Tower of Gamer
by DarkLord98
Summary: Ever wonder how much difference one person could make? A person who has seen one way things would go, but thought how would things go if he could try and change things. Yeah, this is a Self-Insert, but please read through it, it has a S-I with the Gamer power, along with a little something from Boku no Hero Academia. Rated T for stuff that happens later on in the story.
1. Chapter 1(fixed)

**Hello Everybody, I'm really exited about this story, but I'll finish Replay and A.G.a.P first. Please do note that there will be some spoilers about Tower of God, so if you haven't read it, please do, at least past the Workshop battle. That said, I'm kind of bummed out that Manhwa don't have their own category here like other things do, it would let people know what characters the stories will contain and focus on.**

 **Anyway, I had a lot of trouble deciding what kind of power to give to the OC-insert, since I really didn't know any powers that I wouldn't use later in other stories, until I stumbled upon both the Superpower Wikia and Boku no Hero Academia**

 **EDIT: With some of the new information that has been given to us, I'll be slightly reworking things.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 ** _=Ignition Weapon communicating=_**

 ** _"a Guardian speaking"_**

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own is my OC Edward Smith**

* * *

 _"The answer is always at the top. That is the only thing I can tell you. If you wish to have you answer, if you wish to find her, head to the top. Money. Glory. Absolute Power. If you seek abilities and answers which are like magic, head to the top. All of the universe's wisdom, glory, and happiness- It has been placed at the top of this Tower. This Tower, is such a place."_

 _—_ _Headon, the Guardian of the first floor and the caretaker of the Tower_

* * *

When humans think about death, what comes to your mind? a peaceful meadow with your loved ones welcoming you with open arms? or perhaps the flaming pits of hell with your worst nightmares ready to torture you for all eternity? or who knows, maybe there was no afterlife, you simply rotted in your coffin, maggots feasting on your decomposing flesh. What most people probably won't expect is a empty void, lines of text floating in front of them.

 **[Game Over.]**

 **[Would you like to start a new game?]**

 **[Yes?] [No?]**

And of course the young man pressed yes, cause why the hell not. What he didn't expect was the void around him shattering like glass, revealing a cavern with an immensely high ceiling, murals of heroes fighting against ferocious beasts. Turning his attention to himself, he could see that he was still a _he_ , thankfully enough. And that he was wearing the clothes he died in, a light grey jacket with a buttoned high collar reaching up to his nose, his grey shirt underneath it, black slacks and sneakers.

His self-examination was cut short as a voice spoke up from behind him. **_"My my, I seem to have a lot of guests today."_** turning around, he saw a being reminiscent of a white rabbit wearing blue armor, carrying a staff with two green balls at each end. Above the being, our surprised protagonist could see a scroll of text above the creature.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Guardian\  
Headon, Caretaker of the Tower LV:-  
/All\**

 **HP:-  
MP:-**

 **Level up Observation to see stats, Perks/Buffs/Debuffs, Titles, etc…**

* * *

The young man froze as he read the name of the being in front of him. _'Oh Shit, I'm in the Tower of God.'_ as he came to terms with the implications of this, Headon observed this new irregular in front of him. Unlike the foolish girl and the boy, the young man in front of him had an aura of indifference about him, yet when he appeared in front of the Irregular, his eyes gained a glint of recognition and fear in them, how curious...

 ** _"I welcome you to the Tower young man, my name is Headon, Guardian of the lowest floor of the Tower, what is your name?"_** Headon introduced himself as the Irregular calmed down somewhat.

"My name is Edward Smith." Edward introduced himself to the Guardian, keeping himself cordial to the closest thing to a god in this Tower, and he'd rather _not_ get erased.

 ** _"Hmm...a rather odd name. Might I ask why have you entered this Tower?"_** Headon asked Edward, waiting for what his answer may be. Would the boy answer like the girl, wanting to climb the Tower based on a children's story book, to try and defy fate? Or would he be like the one the Tower chose, searching for a friend?

Edward absentmindedly scratched his mop of brown hair before answering. "Well, I don't know how I came to be here but... I suppose I could climb this tower to satisfy my boredom." Of course, that was a lie, to a certain extent, but still a lie.

 ** _"... You're quite different from the previous two, I see."_** Headon stated, laughing on the inside. A Irregular entering the Tower, just to satisfy his boredom? Ludicrous! Headon hadn't heard such a statement, not since Zahard and his group entered the Tower. Well, if this Irregular wanted to satisfy his boredom, he certainly found the right place.

 ** _"But, climbing this Tower is a long, dangerous and difficult journey."_** Headon warned, turning his back to Edward, who simply grinned underneath the collar of his jacket. If Headon's words were any indication, Baam and Rachel had just left. That meant that he could still change things. Sure, killing Rachel might be out of the question as long as her pet monster was still around.

Besides, every story needed an Antagonist...or an opposing force at the very least.

"I'm sorry, but if you're trying to convince me to give up, then you might as well give up, since I'm going to climb this Tower, and see what it has to throw at me." Edward taunted, sticking his hands in his pockets, taking pause as his right hand bumped into something. Grasping it, Edward could tell that it's a handle of some sorts, definitely longer than what would fit into the pockets of his pants. Pulling the mystery object out of his pocket, Edward could see that it was a two-handed War Hammer, with a 2'5 ft long shaft, with a mean looking hammer at the tip, the little nubs on the head of the hammer resembling horns and a quartet of grooves at the side giving it a imitation of closed eyes, a zigzagging groove along it resembling the jaws of an animal.

 **[Ignition Weapon: Haensing yuchung {Equipped}]  
LV: -  
Dur: -**

 **\- STR+120[+? During Ignition]  
\- VIT+80[+? During Ignition]  
\- ?[Ignition only]  
\- ?[Ignition only]  
\- ?[Ignition only]  
\- ?[Unlocked after Ignition]**

 **A Ignition weapon made by the Great Ashul Edwaru in a attempt to create a sentient weapon that could keep on improving, using notes touching upon the process Macseth, the father of the Workshop used to create Artificial Lifeforms. This attempt however was deemed a failure that Ashul abandoned and threw away once he started working on the 13 Month series**

* * *

 ** _"I hope that you'll hold onto that conviction."_** Headon stated, the tone of his voice making it hard to tell whether he was serious or sarcastic. **_"Then, to test whether you have what it takes to climb this tower, shall we begin your test?"_** Headon questioned, a window of text appearing in front of Edward's eyes.

 **[Story Quest: Pass Headon's test!]**

 **-Clear the mission that Headon gives you, in order to move on to the second floor.**

 **Rewards:**

 **Victory:**

 **\- Passage to the 2nd floor**

 **Failure:**

 **-Death**

"Let's." Edward said, accepting the Quest, wondering what kind of test Headon would throw at him. It probably wouldn't be "Ball", since Baam already cleared it. Besides, that was meant to put Rachel on a path that would send Baam to the "gentle" hands of FUG. One of possible ones was defeating the White Steel Eel, if the fanfics are any indication.

 ** _"Watch, this is the test of the lowest floor,"_** With that answer, Headon simply tapped the wall behind him, causing it to peel away, revealing a familiar sight to Edward, a White Steel Eel swimming in liquid Shinsoo, a black ball floating at the back of the cage. Although it seems to be smaller than the one Baam had to face. **_"Ball."_**

 **[Observation]**

 **/Shinheuh\  
White Steel Eel LV: BOSS  
/All\**

 **HP: 2250  
MP: 320**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Medium Shinsoo Resistance Lv4: the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-40% damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower Shinsoo.}  
Tough Hide:{-20% from attacks.}**

Edward simply grinned, already knowing the rules. "All I need to do is pop the ball right?" he asked Headon who simply nodded. **_"Correct, you must enter the cage, either avoid or defeat the White Steel Eel and pop the balloon."_** Headon explained, crossing his arms. **_"But, I should warn you, while the White Steel Eels are normally mild mannered but..."_** Headon paused as he looked at the Eel glaring at Edward with clear frustration in it's eyes.

 **[Side Quest: Defeat the White Steel Eel]**

 **\- Defeat the White Steel Eel on order to make your test easier**

 **Rewards:**

 **Victory:**

 **\- 7500 EXP  
\- White Steel Eel Pack  
\- A-Rank Pocket**

 **Failure:**

 **-Death**

 ** _"On top of it being the breeding season, this one hasn't eaten in a month."_** Headon finished his statement, which Edward ignored in favor of checking what skills he had.

 **[Skills:]**

 **Gamer's Mind |?|  
Passive LV: MAX**

 **Gamer's Body |?|  
Passive LV: MAX**

 **Observation |?|  
Active/Passive LV: 1  
Exp: 20/100**

 **ID Create |?|  
Active LV: 1  
Exp: 0/100**

 **ID Escape |?|  
Active LV: 1  
Exp: 0/100**

 **Explosion Manipulation |?|  
Skill Tree LV: 1  
Exp: 0/200**

 **{Current Skills of this Skill Tree available}**

 **Explosive Combat |The ability to fuse physical combat with explosions.|  
Passive LV: 1{Explosion damage: 40}  
Exp: 0/100**

 **Explosive Physiology |The power to use the traits of bombs|  
Passive LV: 1{Explosion types available: Smoke, Regular}  
Exp: 0/100**

 **Explosion Immunity |The power to be immune to explosions.|  
Passive LV: 1{Damage taken from explosions -80%, the user will feel the secondary effects of the explosions, such as Poison, Blindness, Etc...}  
Exp: 0/100**

 **Explosion Inducement |The user can cause an explosion of any scale, with varying effects ranging from stunning to total annihilation**. **|  
Active LV: 1{Methods of inducement available: Touch, Are of effect: 20 feet feet radius from the point of inducement. MP Cost: 15}  
Exp: 0/100**

 _'Okay, so I'm going to be the demoman, Let's move on to my stats.'_ Edward thought to himself as he switched to the stats window.

 **/Irregular\  
Edward Smith LV: 5  
/Power\**

 **Exp: 0/500**

 **HP: 230  
MP: 94**

 **STR: 9{+120}  
INT: 27  
VIT: 10{+80}  
WIS: 28  
DEX: 12  
AGI: 8**

 **Points: 0**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:**

 _'A tanky demoman.'_ Edward noted as he looked at his stats. The strength and Vitality boost from Haensing yuchung would come in handy when he'd go up against the Eel. The lack of magic-based attacks pushed Edward out of his comfort zone, forcing him to be front liner. On the plus side, the explosive powers should come in handy.

 ** _"My, that's a problem, for you to be scared of a fish like that. It's unfortunate, but if you cannot pass this test, you cannot go onto the next level."_** Headon taunted Edward as he closed the window, listening to what Headon was saying. **_"Then, you won't be able to find that excitement you're looking for... But young man, think logically. For you to pop that ball is nearly imbossible."_** Headon's attempt at discouraging Edward proved null as he walked towards the cage.

 ** _"That monster is very fast and nimble within these waters. You will never be able to get away with your life."_** Edward continued ignoring Headon's attempt at discouraging him as he passed him and continues walking towards cage, and the agitated Shinheuh waiting inside.

 ** _"Keh keh, I sincerely welcome you to the Tower. Young man."_** Headon snickered as Edward entered the cage. With three new Irregulars, well more like two and a half entering the Tower, a great change was bound to come about.

* * *

As soon as he entered the cage, Edward fell to his knees as a great amount of force descended upon him. _'What the hell! I-Is this what Shinsoo does to someone with no Shinsoo resistance.'_ The WS Eel stared down its new prey, taking its time to analyze it, to deduce whether the prey was truly incapable of moving or just playing possum.

 _'An Irregular is supposed to have ungodly Shinsoo Resistance, so what the Fuck!'_ during his internal ranting, an idea popped into Edward's mind as his gaze drew towards Haensing yuchung still in his grasps. Struggling to stand up as the WS Eel rears it's head back to lunge at him, Edward grabbed the ignition weapon tightly with both hands.

"I'm not sure what you do, but let's see if your name is accurate **(1)**. IGNITE, Haensing yuchung!" he shouted, swinging it at the WS Eel's head, an explosion knocking the Eel back. **[-60 HP]**

 ** _"Interesting, he decided to fight the Eel instead of trying to escape."_** Headon noted as he watches the test with rapt attention.

As the smoke from the explosion cleared away, Haensing's new form became clear to see. The rectangular head of the hammer had transformed into a shape that reminded Edward of a dragon's head. Two of the four eyes have opened, revealing slit pupils like those of a snake, the zig-zag groove also opened, revealing sharp fangs, fitting of a shark.

 **[Observation]**

 **[Ignition Weapon: Haensing yuchung {Ignited}{Equipped}]**

 **LV: -  
Dur: Near Unbreakable**

 **\- STR+120[+200 During Ignition]  
\- VIT+80[+ 90 During Ignition]  
\- Restore users HP by 10%, decrease foes' total MP by 10% per strike[Ignition only]  
\- Damage taken from attacks decreases by -35%[Ignition only]  
\- Ignore Medium&Low Shinsoo Resistance[Ignition only]  
\- High Shinsoo Resistance LV:1 to user[Unlocked after Ignition]**

* * *

 ** _=So I've been awakened, =_** Haensing noted with a clearly male voice as he(it?) stared at Edward. A ordinary looking guy, weird clothes though, but the guy managed to wake him up, so he had got that going for him.

"So you can talk. Heh, that's interesting." Edward muttered. **_=Of course I can, but we should postpone our discussion for later, that worm is getting back up.=_** Haensing promptly shut up as Edward charged at the WS Eel, surprised at how easily he was moving when compared to before.

Ignoring this new development, Edward swung his Ignition weapon against the WS Eel's skull with an overhead swing, another explosion enhancing the blow, sending it tumbling to the ground. **[-70 HP]** The WS Eel retaliated by slapping Edward to the ground with its tail. **[-55 HP]**

 **[Through a specific action, the Passive skill: Physical Endurance has been unlocked.]**

 **Physical Endurance: The body's durability increases, allowing for less damage taken.  
Passive Skill Effect: {1% decrease in damage taken from Physical attacks}  
Passive Skill LV:1  
EXP: 0/100**

"Yay." Edward coughed, getting up from the rubble. Assessing the situation, Edward realized that he has two choices: Either fight the WS Eel for a huge EXP drop, or wuss out and attack the ball. "Hey, Haensing, got anything to kill that thing?" Edward asked his weapon. The weapon's face twisted into a thoughtful expression, well as thoughtful as a weapon with a face could take. **_=Strike at it's weak points or something=_** he suggested, unsure of what to do. It had been a long while since he ahd been awake, and he hadn't fought against any White Steel Eels.

"Weak points... oh right, I forgot, Stupid!" Edward facepalmed as he remembered the WS Eel's weak spot from the Manhwa. Seeing that the WS Eel was charging at him with its maw gaping wide open, Edward jumped and slammed Haensing down on it's lower jaw, knocking a row of sharp fangs loose. **[-40 HP]** Capitalizing on the WS Eel's paralysis, Edward slammed his palm down on the Shinheuh's tongue.

" **'Explosion Inducement'**." A orange glow emitted from his hand, traveling down the throat of the stunned Eel, before exploding in a chain reaction. **[-40 HP x20]** "Art is an Explosion!" Not letting up, Edward delivered a barrage of explosive blows with Haensing to the WS Eel. **[-45 HP x8]** Feeling the Eel start trembling, Edward made haste, jumping out of the Eels mouth as it started screeching in pain and anger at a lowly human dealing so much damage to it.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Shinheuh\  
White Steel Eel LV: BOSS  
/All\**

 **HP: 920/2250  
MP: 1220/1320**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Medium Shinsoo Resistance Lv4 : the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-40% damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower Shinsoo.}  
Tough Hide:{-20% from attacks.}  
De-fanged:{-20% attack dealt using the mouth}  
Berserker Rage:{+50 STR, +20 AGI, +20% damage taken.}**

The WS Eel put the buff to good use as it rammed Ed, sending him flying. "Aw crap baskets" Edward groaned as he skidded along the floor, eventually hitting a wall. **[-15 HP]** Scraping himself off the floor, Edward tried coming up with a plan of attack. He was doubtful that he could do that combo again, the Eel was too fast and probably too pissed to just swallow him whole, it would just tear him to pieces.

Noticing some ruble lying around, Edward started launching the ruble at the Eel, but all they're doing was angering it more, crumbling to rubble as they collided with the hard armor of the Eel.

Apparently, the Eel had enough, as it roared, charging at Edward, who jumped to the side, hoping that the eel would crash into the wall, but unfortunately the eel swerved away from the wall just before it could crash into it head-on, hitting its side instead. **[-10 HP]** The shinheuh recovered quickly as it gave chase, not even staggered as the ground in front of it exploded like a landmine, providing a cover of dust and debris.

Slamming his left hand to the ground, Edward lets the information ingrained by the Gamer power to guide his **'Explosive Inducement'** to it's intended destination, right underneath the eel, the ground underneath it exploding in a glorious burst of concussive energy, launching shrapnel and fire at the tender underbelly of the shinheuh. **[-70 HP]**

"What glorious fireworks, but I can make even better..." Edward smirked with glee as he dashed at the WS Eel, his speed enhanced by using explosions as means of jet propulsion. Ignoring the text window saying that he unlocked a new skill, he swung Haensing at the Eels' eye, further enhancing it with a explosion, just to make sure it hurt like a motherfucker. **[-40** **HP, Reduced accuracy 50%]** Jumping upwards, taking himself higher with his pseudo-flight.

 **[Through a specific action, Active Skill: Bomb Dash has been created]**

 **Bomb Dash: Using Explosive Inducement, the user can propel himself further with explosions  
Active Skill Effect: {+50 AGI, 3-dimensional movement. MP Cost: 5 per minute/dash}  
Active Skill LV: 1  
Exp: 0/100**

 **=What're you doing?!=** Haensing questioned as it looked warily at the height they were reaching, approximately 30-40 feet or so.

"Something completely insane." Edward replied in monotone as they reached a height he thought was appropriate, Edward let gravity take hold as he plummeted towards the WS Eel, he started rolling, adding momentum to Haensing with each spin.

 ** _=Ugh, I'm going to puke soon.=_** Haensing groaned, feeling nauseous as they dropped faster towards the WS Eel, which was swimming, or flying depending on your perspective through the Shinsoo in order to try and eat them.

Managing to time his spinning jsut right, Edward managed hit the WS Eel right on the cranial skull **[-400 HP]** , sending it tumbling down to the ground with a resounding crash. **[-360 HP, 5 Minute Stun]**

"I guess... they don't... call them white steel eels... for nothing, am I right Haensing." Edward panted, and slightly nauseous tired from that attack, as Haensing was busy dry-heaving, nothing coming out, due to him having no stomach. They probably shouldn't try that tactic again in the near future.

Intent on finishing the WS Eel before the stun wore off, Edward bashed the Eel's other eye to mush with a overhead swing, finishing the fight. **[-50 HP]** Collapsing to his knees from exhaustion, Edward couldn't help but start laughing. He had actually managed to kill something that Regulars up to Floor 20 would shit their pants fighting against! He would dominate the next floors with ease!

 **Results:**

 **\- 7500 EXP  
\- White Steel Eel Armor Pack  
\- A-Rank Pocket**

 **[Gamer: Edward has reached LV: 12]**

 **[Through a specific action, Passive Skill: Hammer Mastery has been Unlocked]  
Hammer Mastery: Allows the user to freely handle hammers.  
Passive Skill Effect: {+10% DMG when using a hammer, +1% attack speed when using a hammer, +10% Efficiency when crafting with a hammer.}  
Passive Skill LV: 1  
Exp: 0/100**

 ** _"Splendid, but you still need to pop that ball in order to pass."_** Headon stated, clapping his hands to the performance that he had kust witnessed. The previous one simply evaded the Eel and popped the ball. But this one, after adjusting to the amount of Shinsoo in the cage fought the White Steel Eel head-on. And what a battle it was, although it was mostly due to his Ignition weapon that his attacks even affected the beast. The caretaker could _taste_ the void of shinsoo around the weapon.

"Oh right, the ball." Edward picked himself up, noticing the loot drop from the battle. Opening his Inventory, Edward saw a white jacket with red highlights, more than likely made from WS Eel skin, along with pants and a pair of boots presumably made from the same material. Thankfully, there was a couple of text scrolls hanging over their inventory icons

 **[Observation]**

 **[Upper body armor: White Steel Eel Jacket{Unequipped}]  
** **LV:-  
** **Dur: 300/300  
** **A jacket made from the hide of a adolescent White steel eel. Very resistant against Shinsoo.**

 **\- STR +90  
\- Shinsoo Resistance +20%**

 **[Observation]**

 **[Lower body armor: White Steel Eel Pants{Unequipped}]  
** **LV:-  
** **Dur: 300/300  
** **Pants made from the hide of a adolescent White steel eel. Very resistant against Shinsoo.**

 **\- VIT +80  
\- Chance of rare times from loot drops +5%  
\- Shinsoo Resistance +10%**

 **[Observation]**

 **[Lower body armor: White Steel Eel Pants{Unequipped}]  
** **LV:-  
** **Dur: 300/300  
** **A pair of boots made from the hide of a adolescent White steel eel. Very resistant against Shinsoo.**

 **\- AGI+30  
\- Chance of rare times from loot drops +5%  
\- Shinsoo Resistance +10%**

 **[Observation]**

 **[A-Rank Pocket{Unequipped}]  
** **LV:-  
** **Dur: 3000  
** **A device made of suspendium, which allows it to float even in High-Shinsoo areas.**

 **\- PM  
\- Timer  
\- Light  
\- Translator  
\- Tracking  
\- Guardian Contract  
\- Invisible mode{Off}**

 **Equip?  
{Yes}{No}**

Doing what any sensible person would do in this situation, any sensible person _with_ the Gamer would do, Edward equipped the new gear, which appeared on him with a flash of light, replacing his old clothes. **_=So, uh, about that ball...=_** Haensing spoke up, reminding his partner of the task at hand.

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a moment." Edward said dismissively as he gathered the fangs he knocked out of his defeated foe's mouth, before walking up to the black ball, still floating where it was before Edward entered the cage, without a speck of dust or a dent on it.

"Let's try this out." Edward said, attempting to stab the ball with one of the fangs, easily the size of his forearm. **_=Oh, I see what you're doing, I'll try something that should help with that.=_** Haensing said, before he started grunting as he starts compressing himself, until he was the size of a one-handed mallet.

"You're just going to keep surprising me aren't you." Edward asked rhetorically, Haensing giving him a prideful smirk in return. Setting the WS Eel fangs against the surface of the ball, Edward struck the fang with Haensing's smaller and heavier form, popping the ball.

Before Edward could react, the remaining pieces of the popped ball, started emitting black electricity as Edwards vision started fading, the black energy surrounding him, before disappearing with him, leaving nothing on the cold stone floor of the Tower's 1st Floor.

* * *

 **[2nd Floor: Evankhell's Floor...]**

Appearing onto the grass of the 2nd Floors preliminary area, Edward couldn't help but feel pumped for the next test. Noticing the pocket floating next to him, he turned the Invisibile mode on, causing the ball to shimmer out of sight. Preparing for a surprise attack, Edward entered the tall grass, disappearing out of sight.

The yellow lighthouse floating in the sky buzzes to life. **#Mike _test! Mike test! One! Two! Three!#_** a male voice speaks through the light house, getting everyone's attention.

 ** _#Hello Regulars who have entered the Tower! This the 2nd Floor, and I sincerely welcome you to the Evankhell's Floor!#_** the person greeted the Regulars with excitement, whether it was genuine or a well-done act is left up to question.

 ** _#Evankhell's Floor is also known as the 'Floor of Test', because this is the Floor where you are deemed worthy to climb this Tower!#_** he explained further.

 ** _#Then- minor details aside, shall we begin with a simple test first? You might as well get a good warm-up exercise!#_** a snort escapes Edward as he heard the "Proctor's" attempt at a joke. _'Oh, I've had quite the warm-up exercise already.'_ Edward thought to himself. Most of the people here shouldn't be even a problem for him.

 ** _#The first test is very simple! I will begin announcing the rules, so listen carefully!#_** the proctor said as he began his explanation.

 ** _#These are the rules for the first test: The number of Regulars on this floor are 400! All you have to do is make that 400 go down to 200 by any means necessary! The moment the number of Regular go down to 200, the first test will end. Try your best everyone!#_** the proctor stated as the feed from the Lighthouse cut off, soon replaced with the sound of people fighting to the bitter end.

 **[Story Quest: Thin out the competition]**

 **\- Decrease the number of people from 400 to 200 by any means necessary**

 **Rewards:**

 **Victory:**

 **\- 1000 EXP  
\- the right to participate in the next test**

 **Failure:**

 **-Death**

"Talk about high stakes." Edward noted as the sound of a gunshot rang out.

* * *

 **That's all for now folks! I'll be continuing this when I feel like I got no idea for Replay or A.G.a.P, or when I get inspired. So, what position do you guys think Edward would fit in?**

 **1: Haensing/Enhancing Yuchung/Symbiote**

 **EDIT 2: I meant 40, instead of 4025, that was a mistake on my part**

 **Also, Here's a bit of explanation regarding "Bangs" and MP(Myun points, which are all the stats combined, minus the Equipment buffs adn Debuffs): 100 MP= 1 LV: 4 Bang, or 4 LV: 1 Bangs. the strength of a Bang-based attack depends on the level of bang you use. when two bang-attack of equal level clash, the one with more MP in them wins. if they have equal amount of MP, then it comes down to the attack itself.**

 **VIT and HP: 5 point in VIT= 10 in HP 10 HP per Level. and for non-gamers, just the 10 HP per Level. Bosses have a set amount of HP and MP.**

 **Shinsoo and AGI stat: areas with high amount of Shinsoo in them cause beings with inadequate Shinsoo resistance will receive a speed Debuff, if not outright paralysis. for example a area with high amounts of Shinsoo/ 25000 MP wouldn't affect someone who's Shinsoo resistance buff is high grade and maxed out in term of levels(10)**

 **The Shinsoo Resistance goes like this: there's 3 tiers of Shinsoo resistance, Low, Medium and High, each tier having 10 levels. each level takes 100 Exp times the level of resistance, save for the Level 1 of the next tier. This means that when moving up a tier, let's say leveling up from level 10 of Low tier into level 1 of Medium tier, it would take 1200 Exp, and as for how you get Exp for the Shinsoo Resistance, you get it by taking hits from Shinsoo attacks, or by being in areas with a higher amount of Shinsoo. Also, when you do reach Medium level 1, you'd still need 1300 Exp to get to Level M2**

 **Also, I've come up with a way to count Physical Attack and Defense. P-Attack= STR+DEX+AGI, divided by 3( 50% of the Equipment buffs included). P-Defense= STR+VIT, divided by 2( 50% of the Equipment buffs included). If you have a better way, feel free to suggest them. Also, feel free to suggest teammates for him.**

 **And before the reviews are flooded with comments saying that Edward is too OP and stuff like that, then listen. Yes, Edward is powerful, but only with his equipment and weapons on him. Take away all that, his only advantage is his INT and WIS stat and his explosions, but compared to other characters like Koon and Ship, they both outclass him in terms of strategy and physical skill, the only thing evening the odds are his explosions.**


	2. Chapter 2(fixed)

**AN: I'm back! I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter, beta-read by Lliono, please take a look at his Harry Potter fanfic. Anyway, I've counted all the different answers as to what position should Edward's teammates be, and I picked the top two, which do fit, so great job guys! :D**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 ** _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_**

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own is my OC Edward Smith. Please support the Official Releases  
**

* * *

"Wow, glad that isn't me." Edward noted as he stumbled across a corpse of a male with his brains blown out, more than likely the result of a sniper, which meant that this guy was probably killed by that pale light-bearer guy, who's weapon Rak threw off a cliff. Frowning as he found nothing of value on the corpse, Edward moved on to find some people to join up with, in preparation to the next part of the Test. The Regulars had already managed to kill 150 of their fellow competitors, making Edward's job that much easier.

"Well aren't you a tall bastard." Edward said as he looked at a mountain of a man, his face hidden by a metal mask, a leather jacket that left his mid-drift visible, showing off the man's physique, and black parachute pants, along with combat boots covering the bottom half of his body. The man's weapon of choice seemed to be a steel pipe, with a coat of blood on both ends making it quite clear that he wasn't afraid of killing.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Jason LV: 5  
** ** **/Power\**  
**

 **HP: 110  
MP: 166  
**

 **STR: 50** ** **  
**INT: 7  
VIT: 6** ** ** **0  
**** WIS: 8  
DEX: 21  
AGI: 20  
**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Low Shinsoo Resistance Lv5: ******the ability to resist low amounts of shinsoo Shinsoo.{-18% damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Low amounts of Shinsoo.}** **

"..." The man said nothing before swinging the pipe in his hand in an attempt to kill Edward, and pass onto the next stage. Edward could only laugh at the man's pathetic excuse of a attack, Bomb Dashing away from the attack. The pipe slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"I...missed..." Jason grumbled as the dust cloud dissipated.

"Well, what do you know, he speaks." Edward noted, standing on Jason's shoulder, surprising the giant.

"G'day, mate." Edward said, before bashing Haensing against the metal mask, shattering it with an explosion, along with the man's skull **[-160 HP]**. As the giant of a man fell to the ground, Edward noticed another fight going on near his location.

Shrugging, he sneaked towards the sound of fighting. And once he got close enough, he could see the combatants of said fight, a guy wearing a green sleeveless hoodie over a black shirt, his legs protected with armor, running around the small clearing, dodging projectiles shot at him by a girl wearing a yellow and black Yukata wielding a gun of some sort.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Bolt LV: 11  
** ** **/Speed\****

 ** **HP: 70/110  
MP: 163****

 **STR: 21** ** **  
**INT: 14  
VIT: 40** ** ** **  
****WIS: 17  
DEX: 21{-10}  
AGI: 50{-25}  
**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** ** **Medium Shinsoo Resistance Lv1:**** ** ** **the ability to resist the effects of Shinsoo.{-31% damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts of Shinsoo.}  
**** Poisoned: Poisoned with a numbing agent, making the target sluggish.** ** ** ** **{-25 AGI, - 10 DEX******** ** ** ** ** ** ** **}  
************ Expert Runner: Through rigorous training, you have become an agile runner, capable of running for long periods of time.** ** ** ** **{+40 AGI, + 30 VIT******** ** ** ** ** ** ** **}**************

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Hachi LV: 10  
** ** **/Tech\****

 ** **HP: 85/100  
MP:**** **154**

 **STR: 14** ** **  
**INT: 24  
VIT: 18** ** ** **  
****WIS: 26  
DEX: 49  
AGI: 23**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** ** **Medium Shinsoo Resistance Lv2:**** **the ability to resist the effects of Shinsoo.{-34% damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts of Shinsoo.}  
Expert Marksman: Through rigorous and time-consuming training, you have become an expert marksman,capaböe of shooting the wings off if a fly with out killing it.** ** ** ** ** **{+ 30 DEX******** ** ** ** ** ** ** **}  
************** Poison Specialist: You are well-acquianted with different kinds of poisons, making you an expert in producing them and creating antidotes.** ** ** ** **{+ 10% in poison making and antidote making******** ** ** ** ** ** ** **}**************

 _'Okay, so we have a speedster, and a ninja, how quaint.'_ Edward thought to himself as he watched the two fight. Bolt tried his best to get to Hachi, who managed to keep Bolt at a distance with her needles. It was quite obvious that in the long run, Hachi would run out of ammo, leaving her defenseless against Bolt.

As he watched the regulars fight, Edward decided to pass the time plotting for the next stage of the test, particularly, the Crown Game and the Submerged Fish Hunt.

Should he try to kill Rachel during the Crown Game? But, then again, that has a few problems, the biggest one being, Akryung. That monster that Headon prepared for Rachel was an absolute demon. He wouldn't even get near Rachel if he tried to kill her, possibly impaled against the wall by one of Akryung's spears, or just plain smashed to mush by the servant's power.

Plus, Baam would probably jump in the way. Speaking of which, should he help him keep Black March or let Anak obtain it. Baam wouldn't have much use for it during the Submerged Fish, due to him and the bitch being in a bubble, plus, wasn't there some Royal schmuck agent or something? The safest option was definitely letting this go as they would, but there's no harm in trying right?

 **[Through planning ahead, WIS increases by 1]**

 _'Well, this is surprising.'_ Edward noted as he dismissed the notification. So he could increase his stats by making simple deductions like that, good to know. So, who should he join up with? Try and go find some of the Main Characters or some unknown schmucks? Edward was knocked out of his musings as a bell started ringing.

 **Results**

 **\- 1000 EXP  
\- The right to enter the next test  
**

 _#Mic test-! Everyone stay where you are! The first test is now over! The remaining Regulars, stop what you're doing and listen carefully!#_ the proctor orders, stopping all the fights. Edward took notice that Bolt and Hachi had stopped fighting, paying attention to what the proctor, more than likely that Lero Ro guy was saying. It seemed like he would have to join up with those two. Well, they at least seemed to be able to handle themselves, so they wouldn't slow him down.

 _#Any Regulars fighting from now on will be eliminated! The 200 Regulars who passed the first test, congratulations to all of you!#_ the proctor's congratulations were mostly ignored, but regardless, he continued with his explanation.

 _#It is a bit of a rush, but a short second test will be carried out right away.#_ the proctor said, dashing the hopes of some of the regulars, who thought that they would just need to survive the first test.

 _#HAHA! Don't be so disappointed, the next test is really simple.#_ proctor explains, reading the mood of depression. _#Now, here is the second test! The challenge is 'getting teammates'.#_ he said, confusing some of the regulars.

 _#There are 200 remaining_ _Regulars_ _here. From those who remain, find 2 regulars to be your teammates.#_ he explained, angering some of the remaining Regulars. They were just ordered to kill enough regulars to make their number 200, and now they have to make teams with two people, who were their enemies a few seconds ago. What sort of sadistic asshole made this test?

 _#In short, this test is: to make a team of 3.#_ he simplified the explanation, in case some people didn't understand.

 _#For reference, we're giving you a 5 minute time limit!#_ he continued explaining.

 _#OK, starting now, make a team of 3. Of course, if you don't make a team in 5 minutes, you are eliminated!#_ he said, setting them on edge as they look at the people surrounding them, people who they'll have to work with.

 **[Story Quest: Make some friends]**

 **\- Make a team of 3 with 2 other people. In order to do so, you need to hold them at the time limit**

 **Time Limit: 5 Minutes**

 **Rewards:**

 **Victory:**

 **\- 500 EXP  
\- the right to participate in the next test  
**

 **Failure:**

 **-Death**

 _'Is every god-damn failure going to end up with me dying or something?'_ Edward asked himself as the proctor keeps talking

 _#Oh! and one more thing. To be considered a team, you need to be touching some part of your teammates bodies when the time limit is over.#_ with those last words, the feed from the Lighthouse cut off, leaving the regulars scrambling to find two people to join their team.

"OI, you two wanna make a team with me?" Edward shouted to Bolt, who was about to jet, and Hachi who was looking at Bolt and Edward nervously."Um, sure." Bolt said, walking over to Edward. Hachi also walks up to Edward, slinging her needle gun over shoulder. They hold each others hands until the time is up.

 _#The second test is now over!#_ the proctor shouted as a angry roar could be heard coming from somewhere on the floor, shouting about turtles? must be Rak, Edward reasons.

 _#Hold on to your teammates for a while. The three people touching each other will now be considered a team. You will be transported to the next test spot.#_ the proctor said, as all the newly-formed teams were covered in a bright light.

* * *

 **[Evankhell's Mothership, the second test point...]**

As the light surrounding them dissipated, Edward could see that they're on board that floating city-thing where everyone gets put into different positions and trained in them. Looking around, Edward can spot all the necessary individuals for the plot , so at least the butterfly effect isn't happening just yet. Looking at his teammates, Edward could see that Bolt was looking around in excitement, while Hachi seemed to be anxious.

"So, I guess introductions are in order, I'm Edward Smith." Edward said, extending his hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet ya Ed, I'm Bolt." Bolt introduced himself, shaking Edwards hand with a big smile on his face.

"Hachi." Their third teammate introduced herself rather awkwardly. She seemed to be either shy or has a problem with crowds. "...Anyway, I wonder what kind of test we'll be getting next? I hope it's a race." Bolt wondered as he does some stretches.

"I doubt that. They'll probably test our Shinsoo resistance." Edward said, already knowing what the proctors will test them on.

"FINALLY, I GOTCHA! I WILL KILL YOU!" a male shouted with an angry tone, drawing everyone's attention. Turning to look at the source of the disturbance, everyone could see a Regular with red hair, eyes and reddish skin, wearing brown robes grabbing another Regular, a kid with black hair, equipped with a Needle **(1)** by his white shirt with black sleeves and four black bars across it.

* * *

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Ara LV: 8  
** ** **/Power\****

 ** **HP: 25/80  
MP: 108****

 ** **STR: 22  
INT: 14  
VIT: 27  
WIS: 15  
DEX: 12{-6}  
AGI: 18****

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** ** **Medium Shinsoo Resistance Lv2:**** **the ability to resist the effects of Shinsoo.{-34% damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts Shinsoo.}  
Disarmed: You seem to be one arm short, that'll certainly make things harder in the long run.** **{-50% DEX.}**

* * *

 **[Observation]**

 ** **/Regular\  
** Dédé Kancho LV: 9  
** **/Speed\**

 **HP: 90  
MP: 129**

 **STR: 19  
INT: 24  
VIT: 18  
WIS: 23  
DEX: 24  
AGI: 21**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** ** **Medium Shinsoo Resistance Lv2:**** **the ability to resist the effects of Shinsoo.{-34% damage taken from damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts Shinsoo.}**

* * *

"Look what you did to my arm!" Ara shouted, referencing to his stump of a right arm. "How are you going to make up for this, huh!" he questioned, understandably angry.

"I don't know, maybe you can buy a stick and attach it to your shoulder." Dédé deadpanned, apparently not caring that he cut the other guy's arm off. And why should he? It was during a test where the objective was to kill 200 Regulars. He should be grateful that he only lost a limb.

"WHAT! Yyyoooouuuuu Asssssholeeeee!" Ara shouted, ticked off and ready to attack the schmuck in front of him.

Dédé's teammate, whom Edward recognized as the religious guy attempted to break up the fight. "Stop there pals. I'm sorry to see your arm like that, but fighting is prohibited during the break, and you got hurt during the test, so it was justified..."

 **[Observation]**

 ** **/Regular\  
** Shopin LV: 7  
** **/Power\**

 **HP: 70  
MP: 97**

 **STR: 19  
INT: 15  
VIT: 18  
WIS: 16  
DEX: 17  
AGI: 12**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** ** **Medium Shinsoo Resistance Lv2:**** **the ability to resist the effects of Shinsoo.{-34% damage taken from damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts Shinsoo.}**

This only angered Ara even more. "Justified huh? I was ambushed! I'm not so weak, that I'd be beaten by this guy!"

"What I mean is-" Shopin attempted to explain himself.

"I'm sure that you would've been beaten even if it wasn't an ambush, you're just lousy." the black-hair kid interrupted the two, just pouring more oil into the flame that was Ara's anger. Edward really wished that he had some popcorn on hand, as this was starting to turn out to be a proper show!

"Are you nuts! Well then, let's just skip to the end!" Ara shouted, reaching for his weapon, a sickle with a long handle, meant for two hands.

"Let's fight! I don't care about the test anymore!" he keot shouting as Shopin attempted to dissuade him from fighting.

"Did you not understand? _NO_ fighting during break time." said a blonde-haired man with fair skin, two black spots below the his yellow eyes. He is wearing a white lab coat over black trousers and black gloves, making him look like a clown in Edward's opinion.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Ranker\  
Lero Ro LV: ?  
** ** **/Tech\  
** |Light Bearer|**

 ** **HP: ?  
MP:**** **?**

So Lero Ro's Level was too damn high for Edward to read, but honestly, he was sort of expecting it already. Since all Rankers had already climbed to Floor 134, their levels were probably way up in the double digits, or maybe even triple digits, if the system didn't cap out at 100.

"You didn't take my words seriously, did you Regulars?" Lero-Ro asked, more than a little amused by the Regular causing trouble. Honestly, why did there always have to be some troublemakers in every batch of Regulars.

"Who the hell are you, ya locust looking jerk, you wanna die too, wanna try some pesticide?!" Ara shouted, trashing as his teammate, a yellow chicken with four eyes held him back from trying to assault a Ranker, which would've been a truly futile effort.

"Oi, red, you might want to think twice before attacking that Ranker." Edward said, deciding to draw at least some level of attention to himself. It wouldn't do him any good if he just stayed in the shadows. Besides, he wanted to see Ara's expression once he realized what he would have attempted.

"Indeed, I am a Ranker, my name is Lero Ro and I'm also the Test Administrator." Lero Ro introduces himself, taking slight joy as Ara started sweating profusely. "D-Damn! I forgive you, for the Ranker." Ara apologizes as he walked away from Dédé and more importantly, away from the Ranker, before the man did decide to punish him for almost breaking the rules.

"MIC TEST-! Regulars, over here, please focus." Lero Ro shouted, suddenly on top of a platform. "I will explain the next round." he said, the Regulars moving in closer to hear the explanation on of their next, more than likely life-or-death test.

"Before that, to give some information about myself, I'm your test administrator, Ranker Lero Ro, nice to meet chu!" Lero Ro introduces himself with a terrible pun, **(2)** causing Edward to face-palm, and the regulars to question how they should react.

"Now, I guess you've had enough rest. Let's go on to the next test! But before that, there will be a little pre-test!" he said, causing the regulars to groan, some internally, some externally at getting yet another damn test.

"FYI, those who don't pass this pre-test, _cannot_ take the next test." Lero explanation caused the Regulars to listening to his words with rapt attention.

"Haha, don't worry. It's a a really simple pre-test." Yeah, as easy as walking through a concrete wall.

Extending his hand forward, Lero Ro gathered Shinsoo in the palm of his hand, ready to begin the test."Well now, the pre-test begins." he said, pushing the Regulars back with a veil of Shinsu, emptying the are around himself.

"Is this... Shinsoo?" a Regular with tinted silver blue hair, a blue bandanna tucked inside his hair, wearing a white shirt, a black tie, carrying a brown briefcase wondered out-loud as he was pushed back along with the Regulars

* * *

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Koon Aguero Agnis LV: 15  
/Tech\**

 **HP: 180  
MP: 227**

 **STR: 21  
INT: 70  
VIT: 18  
WIS: 65  
DEX: 24  
AGI: 29**

 **Points: 0**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Medium Shinsoo Resistance Lv9 : the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-55% damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts of Shinsoo.}**

* * *

"Yup, I threw a veil of Shinsoo at you." Lero Ro answered, proceeding to explain what he did even further. After all, it wouldn't be fair for him not to explain some vital mechanics of the Tower.

"I instantly compacted the Shinsoo to make a veil and threw it to push you." Edward proceeded to tune out the rest of Lero Ro's explanation of Shinsoo and how it would have adverse effects on those that couldn't climb the Tower. It's not like it was a problem for himself, since he sure got through the veil easy enough, as in the veil only moved him a few inches, accompanied with a slight tingling sensation.

"Um... sorry... Mr. Lero Ro." Baam timidly spoke up, drawing attention to him. And as expected, people were shocked that a little kid didn't get moved by the Shinsoo Veil, some of them already noticing that Edward hadn't moved either, to which he gave a small smile and a wave. Making use of the situation, Edward used **[Observe]** on him.

Might as well see what kind of monstrous stats the little chestnut Irregular had.

* * *

 **[Observation]**

 **/Irregular\  
Baam Twenty-Fifth LV: 16  
/Tech\**

 **HP: 160  
MP: 163  
**

 **STR: 14  
INT: 22  
VIT: 21  
WIS: 66  
DEX: 21  
AGI: 19  
**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
High Shnisoo Resistance Lv4: ****the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-75.2% from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with High or lower lower amounts of Shinsoo.}  
Monstrous Potential: You posses a monstrous Potential, how and where that potential leads you to, is a mystery.** **{-80% time taken off from learning a Skill. EXP Gain + 25%.** **}  
Pain is knowledge: Pain is the greatest teacher of all, and you are an adept student.** **{Learn a Lv1 version of any Shinsoo Skills that are used on you.** **}**

* * *

Well, that was surprisingly... disappointing. In all honesty, Edward expected the Myun Points of the Irregular to be in the quadruple digits, at the very least.

"Um... I-I don't know why, but I didn't have a problem..." Baam stuttered, nervous about everyone looking at him. "Um... to take the test, should I go out and come in again, right?" Baam asked as Lero Ro looked at him like he had swallowed a sour lemon, or seen something unholy, the latter of which being _kinda_ right, but not quite.

"Nah, I doubt that you need to do it again, since you have such a high Shinsoo resistance." Edward spoke up, standing confidently. Lero Ro's expression turned even more surprised. Not just one, but TWO people who weren't pushed by the Shinsoo Veil. In order for that to happen, they'd have to have enough Shinsoo resistance to be able to move in Floors beyond 20.

Recomposing himself, Lero Ro addressed the two 'Regulars'. "No need, Mr. Baam, you and Mr. Edward are in." Edward cocked an eyebrow at hearing Lero Ro knowing his name.

Nobody inside or outside the Tower should know who he is, but then again, maybe Headon-nim informed them ahead of time. He just hoped that the rabbit-man didn't inform Yu Han Sung about anything else.

"I think I made a mistake, but it is also a part of your luck. You two passed." Lero Ro said with a smile. As some of the Regulars tried to come up with a plan to pierce the veil, not that there was a weak spot, Edward walked up to Baam, who was just sitting near the platform.

"So, the two of us are quite lucky, huh?" Edward asked, taking a seat next to Baam, who nodded in agreement. "Um, yeah, I guess we are "

"Please, drop the Mr, just call me Edward, or Ed, whichever you prefer." Edward said, as some of the Regulars started approaching the veil.

"Ok, Mr. E- I mean Ed." Baam said.

"So... what sort of test did Headon give you?" Edward whispered, causing Baam to look at him like a deer caught in the headlights. Miss Yuri had told him that Irregulars brought chaos and dis-order to the tower, so would Mr. Edward think harshly of him just because he's an Irregular?

"Oh relax, only Irregulars should have enough Shinsoo Resistance to not be budged by that veil." thankfully, Edward's excuse did manage to calm Baam down a bit.

"Well, I had to pop a ball while dodging a monster." Baam answered, sheepishly scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"No way, you got the 'Ball' too? Heh, I had fun beating that overgrown worm." Edward grinned while pretending to be surprised about Baam, causing Baam,s eyes to widen. He actually beat that monster? How strong was Mr. Edward?

"Hey, while we're waiting, do you want to play a game?" Lero Ro asked the two 'Regulars', sitting next to them as Dédé tested the veil, withdrawing his finger as the veil sparked.

 _'Did Lero Ro infuse some electric Shinsoo into the barrier?'_ Edward wondered as he observed the phenomenon. Perhaps it was simply a natural part of his Shinsoo, or perhaps he was so used to it that he put some in without even realizing it.

"Huh, what kind of game?" Baam asked, as Edward looked at his teammates, with Bolt stretching his legs, more than likely going to try and run through the veil, while Hachi seemed to be trying to spot a weak spot.

So, his first estimation of the two was right on the money. Bolt seemed like a reckless individual, charging in head first, while Hachi waited and looked for the perfect opportunity to strike a weak spot. He'd have to be careful around Hachi. Who knows, maybe she was some kind of F.U.G assassin?

"Let's guess which Regular will be the first one to pass through the Shinsoo. If you get it right, I will answer any question you have to ask. In return, if I'm right, you two have to answer a question as well." Lero Ro explained, in an attempt to get some information on the two who had no problems to get through the veil.

These two were added to the list of Regulars at the last second by the Test Director. And well, his curiosity had been sparked to say the least.

"The green chick with the hook." Edward said, pointing to Anak, who was approaching the veil. "Hm, good choice, I'll pick the same." Lero Ro said, making his choice. Baam also picked Anak, going with a gut feeling. The gut feeling proves true as Anak passes through the barrier as if it wasn't there, Hatsu following soon after.

* * *

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Anak Zahard Jr. LV: 18  
/Power\**

 **HP: 180  
MP: 241  
**

 **STR: 64  
INT: 21  
VIT: 54  
WIS: 25  
DEX: 27  
AGI: 45  
**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Medium Shnisoo Resistance Lv10: ****the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-58% from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts of Shinsoo.}  
Blood of Zahard(50%): The blood of Zahard runs through your veins, but it is hampered by another blood.** **{+ 30 STR, +30, +30 AGI. Increase STR, VIT and AGI by 2 every level.** **}  
** **Revenge for Mother: Your mother, Anak Zahard Sr. was killed by the Zahard Empire, and you want revenge.{+ 10% to all stats when fighting a Zahard, or someone who's affiliated with your mother's death. +20% to all stats when fighting the one whom killed your mother.** **}**

* * *

 _'Wow, even when diluted, the blood of Zahard sure was strong. Let's see what Hatsu has.'_

* * *

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Hatsu LV: 16  
/Power\**

 **HP: 160  
MP: 207  
**

 **STR: 54  
INT: 24  
VIT: 45  
WIS: 26  
DEX: 28  
AGI: 30  
**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Medium Shnisoo Resistance Lv6: ****the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-46% from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts Shinsoo.}  
Expert Swordsman: you are well acquainted with the feeling of a sword in your hands, and are capable of using it for combat.** **{+20 STR, +20 DEX, +20 AGI when a sword is equipped.}**

* * *

"It seems like it's a tie, but since I'm a Ranker, I'll answer your questions." Lero Ro noted as Baam's face lighted up with hope.

"I think I'll save my question for later." Edward noted, watching as Regulars started passing through the veil, laughing a bit as Ship and Serena failed to pass through the veil, while Laure just walked through it and then plopped down to sleep.

"Don't give up you two, I'm sure that you can do it." Edward shouted to the duo banging their fists against the veil.

"IIIIIII'MMM COOOOMMIIINNG THROUGH!" Bolt shouted as he started running towards the veil, passing through it quite easily, eventually crashing against the wall.

"You okay there buddy?" Edward asked, poking Bolt with Haensing. Having one of his teammates die before the Crown game would be no good. After that was done, he could jump off the ship for all he cared.

"I-I'm ohkay, just going to lay here for a while." Bolt wheezed out, giving a shaky thumbs up.

"..." Hachi simply walked through the veil, without any complications.

"DAMN IT! How can this useless test eliminate me?" A humanoid Regular with dark blue hair wailed, wearing a dark blue shirt, a pink sash across his chest, obviously annoyed at not being able to pass the test.

"I don't know what this 'veil' is all about, but I'm strong enough without any strange powers! I'm strongest of the Regulars here!" the man shouted. Deciding to see if the man's claims were true, Edward uses Observe.

* * *

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Mark LV: 7  
** ** **/Power\**  
**

 **HP: 70  
MP: 150  
**

 **STR: 30** ** **  
**INT: 22  
VIT: 3** ** ** **0  
**** WIS: 23  
DEX: 27  
AGI: 18  
**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Low Shinsoo Resistance Lv4: ******the ability to resist low amounts of Shinsoo.{-16% damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Low amounts of Shinsoo.}** **

* * *

Well that's... disappointing. Predictable, but disappointing none the less. Even that Jason guy could've rip this guy apart. "You eliminate me just because I fail this test? This is nonsense!" Mark kept shouting. **(read, bitching and moaning. No offense to women.)**

"Besides those two passed the test because they happened to be at the right place at the right time! Why should I be eliminated when I'm much stronger." now Mark was just pulling excuses out of his ass at this point, and it would seem like Lero Ro has had enough of the man's complaints, as he walks over to the troublesome Regular, an expression of tranquil fury on his face.

"What? What more do you have to say?" Mark noted, taunting the Ranker.

"..." Lero Ro noted nothing, letting Mark dig his grave even further. It's current depth was 2 ft.

"I'm sick of listening to your nonsense. You think you're above us just because you're a Ranker?" 4 ft and digging deeper. Wow, the man just seemed to not realize how deeply fucked he was.

"You just look skinny and weak, and judging by how you're administering this kind of test, I can tell how weak you are." And that's 6ft. Seriously, was the man dropped as a baby?

"Keh, This was your last chance, and you didn't get that." Lero Ro chuckled, as electricity started sparking around him.

"Huh?" Mark stepped back, not understanding what the Ranker was saying, while his body seemed to subconsciously realize that he was quite fucked.

"How stupid are you, fine then. I will teach you the harsh way so that you realize..." Electricity start arcing around him like a thunderstorm. It was at this point that Mark should start realizing his position in the pecking order. To put it as a metaphor, Mark was a paper tiger facing a thunderstorm. And like a paper tiger, he would crumble just from the rain, not being worthy of being struck by the thunder.

"About the power that lies above, and why you can't go up." Lero Ro finished as a great pressure exerted upon Mark, paralyzing him, whether from fear or simply from the pressure was up to debate.

"There is no limit to Shinsoo. With it, you can obtain immortality or god-like powers. There are even rumors about the notorious Enryu being capable of creating living things with Shinsoo." More and more pressure was exerted and concentrated on Mark, the electricity around Lero Ro crackling like a wild beast, held at bay only by his will.

"However, as it is for every man, we each have our own limits." Mark started to buckle from the pressure.

"When one faces an opponent with infinite possibility, and discovers his limits, he falls into despair." and now he started screaming from pain, unlike anything he had felt before.

Unaffected by the man's screaming, Lero Ro continued his monologue. "That veil of Shinsoo was my last show of mercy, before you enter the Tower and fall into deeper despair. Those who don't qualify... _get lost_." as the electricity danced across the upper part of the veil, Mark started screaming even louder.

"Feeling pain?" Lero Ro asked, as if that wasn't obvious from the pained expression on the man's face.

"This concentration of Shinsoo on you is routine above the 30th Floor." The futility of climbing the tower started settling into the man's head. "Do you get it now?" Lero Ro asked as Mark fell to his knees.

"It's not like you weren't strong enough, or your effort wasn't enough. It's just because, _you just weren't one of the chosen ones_." Lero Ro finished his explanation as Mark started throwing up on the floor.

"Go back to the floor you came from. You're not qualified to climb the Tower." with those final words, Lero Ro walked away from the man, leaving him to cry at his failure. People like him appeared almost every time, someone who sacrificed his whole life to climb the Tower, only for them to be unable to do so, whether from not being chosen, or being too weak, it was all the same. At least stopping him now would allow the man to go back, and attempt to rebuild his life.

"Why, Why, WHY AM I NOT CHOSEN! Do you know how hard I've tried to climb the Tower? I risked my life to train myself, and I gave up everything I had! There's nothing left for me when I go back! Not even my wife and kids..." Mark screamed, the sound of his anguish soon turning to sobbing, as Lero Ro kept walking, mostly apathetic to the man's plight.

As Ship and Serena watched Mark walked away, Ship gritted his teeth in frustration, before pushing against the veil once more. "AARRGGH! CHOSEN! WHATEVER! Who chooses who?!" he shouted as he pushed against the veil with all his might, determined not to fail. Serena grinned as she started pushing against the veil as well, determined, her pride refusing to let him pass before her.

"Hey, Baam!" Koon shouted, waving at Baam, after he and Rak passed through the veil with slight difficulties on Koon's part, due to the _"_ _contents"_ of his briefcase. "Well Baam, I'll see you in the next test." Edward noted, extending his hand for a handshake.

"The same!" Baam noted, shaking Edward's hand, before joining up with his team.

"Are you sure you should get close to that boy? His teammate, Mr. Koon is from a dangerous family." Lero Ro noted, intending to warn Edward. Getting involved with someone who defected from the 10 Families would be dangerous. Sometimes, the defected members would have assassins chasing after them.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Edward noted, joining his team.

* * *

 **AN: That's all for now folks, how did you like the chapter, I hope that the lack of fights wasn't too bad. And thanks to Lliono for Hachi's design.**

 **1: Needle with the capital N are the common stabbing weapons found in the Tower. A more well known Needle is the Black March**

 **2: Lero Ro's design is apparently based on a Pikachu**

 **And here's the question of the chapter: Who should I pair Edward with?**


	3. Chapter 3(fixed)

**AN: I'm back! I am HYPED after watching the new Digimon Adventure Tri! And wow, the animation was BEAUTIFUL! And Mimi's still an annoying twat. Anyways, in this chapter, we'll move on to Hangsung's Examination, and after that into the Crown Game.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own is my OC Edward Smith** **and Bolt, Hachi was designed by Lliono, my beta reader** **. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

"So, what were you talking about with that kid?" Bolt asks Edward, as they wait in line for the next test. They had been lucky enough to be at the beginning of the line, number 8, to be exact. Hachi had been surprisingly insistent on them going in eight.

"Oh, nothing much." Edward says, his mind more focused on the next test, or to be accurate, the person in charge of the test. Yu Han Sung, a undercover FUG member and High-Ranker, and he has a pet Shinheuh bigger than the WS Eel. If Edward's guess is correct, his job there is to scout potential assets to F.U.G, so Edward would have to think carefully about revealing his own status as a Irregular.

"We're up." Hachi says, as the door opens. Entering the room, the first thing to notice was that it was pitch black, save for the 12 red doors, and the person sitting before them. You could easily mistake Yu Han Sung for a woman, what with the feminine appearance, the kimono and his attitude

 **[Observation]**

 **/F.U.G High-Ranker\  
Yu Han Sung LV: ?  
/Tech\  
|Wave Controller&Anima|**

 **HP: ?  
MP: ?**

 **[Your level is too low to obtain anymore information]**

"Nice to meet you Regulars. My name is Yu Han Sung, your next test administrator." he introduces himself with a bow. Hachi bows back, in respect, and out of simple courtesy. Bolt looks at Han Sung in confusion, not sure whether or not the administrator is boy or a girl?

"Could you just give us the test, I'd rather not waste time." Edward asks, wanting to get away from the cross-dressing F.U.G member as soon as possible. It's creepy how he looks at them like a predator waiting to pounce and devour them. _'And I didn't mean that as innuendo.'_

"Very well then, I'll explain the rules. There are 12 doors here, and you must go through the correct one. If you guess correctly, you pass in to the next test. If you guess incorrectly however..." Han Sung drops the sentence short, sipping her coffee.

 **[Story Quest: Pick a door, any door.]**

 **\- Pick the door that leads to the next test, or perish, whether from picking the wrong door, or from waiting for too long-**

 **Time Limit: 5 Minutes**

 **Rewards:**

 **Victory:**

 **\- 500 EXP  
\- the right to participate in the next test  
**

 **Failure:**

 **-Death**

"What happens if we guess incorrectly? C'mon Ms. Han Sung, please tell us what happens." Bolt begs, wanting to know the consequences of picking the wrong door.

"First off, I believe that the test administrator is a man, and I think it's quite obvious that if we don't pick the right door, well..." Edward explains, making a motion of his hand cutting across his neck while making a croaking sound.

"We die." Hachi finishes, realizing what's at stake. Bolt gulps in fear.

"Exactly. Thankfully, I'm 98% sure that I know which door is the real one." Edward says, walking over to one of the doors, knowing that it doesn't matter which one they open, because this is a test of courage.

"98?" Bolt questions.

"Well, there's a 2% percent chance that I'm wrong" Edward says, pushing the door open, before his teammates can stop him.

 **[Quest Complete!]**

 **Results**

 **\- 500 EXP  
\- The right to enter the next test**

"Congratulations, you pass the test." Han Sung congratulates them. The youth with the hammer didn't even hesitate in opening a door, despite what he said. Could he be a Guide? Or was he simply not afraid of the consequences of failing?

"What?" Bolt and Hachi gasp. They passed? Was the test so easy, or could Edward predict the future? He seemed so calm during all the previous tests, as if it was a game to him. Even now as Han Sung congratulates them, Edward has that know-it-all smug smile on his face, but as Hachi looks at her teammate's eyes, she can see that they hold fear in them. Following his line of sight, she can see that said fear is directed at Yu Han Sung.

"I'm impressed, how did you know which door to pick?" Bolt asks, as he and Hachi walk over to their teammate. "I'll tell you guys later, but we really should move on." Edward says, stepping through the door, his teammates following soon after.

* * *

"So c'mon man, how'd you know what door to pick, and that our Shinsoo resistance would be tested?" Bolt asks as they enter a yellow room with 5 teams waiting for them.

"Well, it was really simple, since the first test, the one where we had to take out other Regulars tested both our strength, and our ability to survive." Edward starts explaining.

"Uh-huh." Bolt nods, understanding Edward so far.

"And the next one tested our willingness to trust others, and the Shinsoo Veil was there to weed out the weak." Edward continues.

"So, the only category left untested was our ability to make a snap decision." Edward finishes as he observes the other teams who passed the test.

"Yeah, but if we picked the wrong door, we'd be dead." Bolt points out.

"They were all right ones, we just had to open the door in 5 minutes, or they'd all become the wrong door." Edward explains as they sit on one of the benches on the sides of the room.

After a bit of waiting, Baam's team appears from another door. "Oi, Baam, good to see that you guys passed." Edward greets his fellow Irregular, who waves back, before joining them on the bench. "So, did you guys figure out the solution of the test?" Edward asks, as more teams start coming through the doors.

"Well, Mr. Rak just went with his instincts." Bam answers, as Koon's eyebrow twitches in frustration, angry at himself not being able to figure out the test.

"Well, Edward was able to figure out, that there wasn't a wrong door, and just went for it." Bolt chips in. At this point, Koon heads for the bathroom, to release the people inside his Manbarondenna **(1)**.

"Eh, it wasn't that hard." Edward shrugs, noticing that Ship is approaching them.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Ship Leesoo LV: 12  
/Tech\**

 **HP: 120  
MP: 226**

 **STR: 28  
INT: 43  
VIT: 32  
WIS: 44  
DEX: 34  
AGI: 45**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** **Low Shinsoo Resistance Lv9:** ** **the ability to resist low amounts of Shinsoo.{-26% damage taken from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Low amounts of Shinsoo.}****

"Hey lucky duo, you guys passed this too!" Ship notes with a smile. "Yeah, wasn't too hard. I had already figured out the test" Edward says. Although, it can't really be called 'figuring it out', if you know the answers before the test begins, but the others don't know that.

"Ah, I guess I wasn't the only one. The names Ship Leesoo by the way." Ship introduces himself. "Edward Smith." Edward says, introducing himself in return.

"I-I'm Baam." Baam replies.

"Hi, my names Bolt!"

"Hachi."

"What's the name of the big guy?" Ship asks, looking at Rak.

"I'm Leader Rak." Rak introduces himself.

"Leader Rak?" Ship questions.

"I'm the true leader of this Era." Rak clarifies, as Edward bites back a laughter.

"Haha, You've got a funny guy on your team, Baam." Ship chuckles as he sits next to Baam.

"But man, you two are awesome! You two look completely ordinary, but you guys still made it up here. And he way you guys weren't even affected by the Ranker's Shinsoo veil." Ship notes, a little bit jealous, but still glad for them. A lot of people who managed to get chosen to enter the Tower used to be ruthless people.

"No... Not really, it's mostly thanks to my teammates that I even managed to get this far." Baam dejects.

"Those are the scariest ones later on. By the way, there aren't many teams left. Which means that the test is almost over, the tests will become much more difficult..." Ship notes sadly.

"But I'll pass all the tests. I made a promise to my friend to would make it up the Tower." Ship smiles fondly as he reminisces of the times he spent with his friend.

"So, why did you guys come into the Tower?" he asks. "I must find someone in the Tower." Baam answers. "Ooh, so you came to the Tower for a girl did ya, you casanova."Edward teases, if only to keep his anger out of view. He really hated Rachel for what she will do to Baam.

"But please do keep in mind, that it's the prettiest flowers that have the deadliest thorns." Edward says, deciding to give a subtle warning to Baam. He just hopes that Baam will be more prepared when the time comes. "It's not like that Edward, she's just a friend." Baam replies.

"That's how it always for why I came to the Tower: it was not because of a promise, nor because of a friend, but as a result of me being bored." Edward admits, earning confused looks from the people around him, save for Rak, who nods understanding where the 'turtle' is coming from. He also had left his hunting grounds in search of worthy prey.

"Well, I guess I should be going now, the breaks about to end. And Baam..." Ship puts his hand upon Baam's shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find her, don't worry." Ship says, joining his team as Koon walks back from the bathroom, feeling a lot lighter.

The electric door slides open as Lero Ro enters, the attendant flanking him."Did you have enough rest, Regulars?" he asks, smiling. "I came here with very good news." he announces.

"Let me guess, another test?" Edward says, although he knows what Lero Ro's talking about. "Not quite. Before I came here, I talked with the top administrator, and he told us to hold a bonus game." Lero Ro announces.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's in our best interest to take more tests than necessary" Ship interjects.

"I'm sorry to hear that you think so, but the bonus game has nothing to do with the tests." Lero Ro explains, as the Regulars start listening to what he has to say. "It is up to each team to choose whether to play the bonus game or not. There is no penalty if you decide not to." he clarifies, managing to calm some of the more cautious teams.

"But the winner of the bonus game, gets to pass the final test of this floor, they get the right to go straight to the next floor." This sparks a flame of competition to the hearts of the Regulars.

 **[Optional Quest: Crown Game]**

 **\- Steal and maintain the possession of the crown for 5 rounds  
** **\- Kill Rachel.** **{Optional}**

 **Rewards:**

 **Victory:  
**

 **\- 1500 EXP  
\- The right to enter the next floor**

 **\- 5500 EXP if you complete the optional condition.  
**

 **Failure:**

 **\- nothing  
**

 **[Accept?]  
Yes?/No?**

 _'Well, what do you know, a quest that I won't die from if I fail it.'_ Edward thinks to himself, looking at the quest. Even if they don't compete, he'll get a free level up. Although that optional reward is sooooo tempting... it's way too tough. Edward would have to get through Rak, Koon, Androssi, Baam and Rachel's pet monster.

"So what do you guys think, should we compete?" Edward asks his teammates, hoping that they'll say yes.

"Of course, we'll ace this game!" Bolt gloats, raring to go.

"..." Hachi simply shrugs her shoulders, not caring whether they play the bonus game or not.

"This game is called 'the Crown Game'. I will explain the details to you when we get to the game spot." Lero Ro says, as all the teams get teleported to a big arena with 23 **(AN:Trust me, I counted them)** rooms leading to a big center room, a throne standing in the middle of it, a golden crown situated on one of the armrests of the throne.

"Now that you've been transmitted to this spot, I will explain the rules to you." Lero Ro says, leaning on the throne.

"The crown game is in short, a crown-stealing game. The team that holds this crown at the last moment, wins the game." Lero Ro explains, but starts clarifying before any upstarts start thinking that the game is so simple.

"It looks simple, but the rules are a bit complicated." Of course they are, it's never so simple.

"First is the time limit. A game consists of 5 rounds, each of them are 10 minutes long. only 5 teams may participate in each round, and the team that possesses the crown at the end of each round becomes the winning team to proceed to the next round." So the first team to win the round are forced into a battle of attrition.

"In the next round, 4 new teams and the winning team from the previous round will compete for the crown. The true winner will be the team that holds the crown at the end of round 5." Lero Ro clarifies as some of the teams start planning ahead.

"So that you know, if you want to participate in the game, press the red buzzer at the entrance of each of your rooms." Looking at said, buzzer, Edward chickles at the phrases telling them to press the button, a helpful sheet detailing the rules attached near the buzzer.

"Only 5 teams may participate, and it will be done in a first-come-first-serve basis. if several teams press the buzzer simultaneously, the team that participated the most will get the chance."

"But there is a way to finish the game early." Lero Ro mentions, piquing the interest of the teams.

"That is to sit on the throne while you're wearing the crown in 5 minutes or less. The moment someone sits on the throne, the round automatically ends. And the sitting team becomes the winner of the round." he explains.

"However, some movement will be restricted. If there was a winning team at the end of the previous round, that team may keep the crown, but at least one team member must stay seated on the throne, wearing the crown."

"If the crown wearer comes off the throne or loses the crown, that team will be eliminated from the test. And if another team takes the crown and sits on the throne, that team wins the round." It's sort of symbolic if one thinks about. Once someone becomes king, people in high positions will start planning to overthrow the king. If they succeed, then they have to worry about people going after their head.

"Correct! The winner of the previous round carries a big risk in the next round." Lero Ro replies, hearing Koon pointing out how disadvantageous it is to participate early on.

"But, if you postpone participating because of the risk... you may not be able to get into the game at the end!" Lero Ro chrips, putting on the crown.

"Well, although there are a lot of rules and limitations, the point is that the team with the crown at the end of the final round is the winner, don't think too much. You just have to steal the crown."

"Oh, and one more thing. Another team another test spot will be participating. It's a long story." Edward grips Haensing tightly at those words, knowing _who_ the mystery team has. A princess of Zahard, an Irregular and a monster.

If Hwa Ryun will distract Androssi like she did, or will do in canon, and if Akryung will be distracted with something else, then Edward might have a clear shot at killing Rachel. A clear shot at ending her, which in turn makes it so that Baam won't be pushed to F.U.G and that _demon_ Hoaqin won't be awakened.

"Oi, Ed, you ok buddy?" Bolt asks, snapping Edward out of his internal ramblings.

"Uh, yeah. I guess I'm a bit nervous. But I think that we should go in during the 2nd or 3rd round." Edward explains, not wanting to go up against Anak or Hatsu, just yet.

"C'mon, if we go now, we might be able to score a quick win!" Bolt argues.

"And if we lose the crown, we'll be out of the whole game!" Edward fires back.

"I don't care either way." Hachi deadpans, reloading her needle gun.

 _#Now, the Crown Game begins! I will count to 5! So the teams that want to participate, must press the buzzer during the count!#_ Lero Ro announces from his Lighthouse.

 _#Starting now, I will count for the first round participants!#_

 _#1!#_

"There's no way that we'll lose the crown! Hachi can wear it and shoot anyone who gets too close."

 _#2!#_

"Please don't involve me into this."

 _#3!#_

"I'm telling you, some of them are stronger then us." Edward's warning falls to deaf ears as Bolt walks towards the buzzer. Seeing no other option, Edward tackles Bolt to the ground, keeping him in a bear hold, thanks to the strength boost from all of his equipment

 _#4!#_

"Hey let me go damn it!" Bolt shouts, struggling against Edward's bear hold. "Not until the bell rings." Edward replies, thanking the Gaia or whatever being is in charge of his Gamer power.

 _#5!#_

 _#Well, the count is over! The first round of the Crown Game begins now!#_ Edward let's go of Bolt as the time runs out, locking everyone in their rooms, save for those that entered the first round, those being Ship's team and Dédé's team.

"Hey, why'd you stop me from entering us into the first round? We could've taken them!" Bolt rants, pointing an accusing finger at Edward, who's rubbing his temples in exasperation. While watching a happy-go lucky person like Bolt stumbling through obstacles in their path is amusing, actually being in a team with one is so... irritating, having to constantly stop them from trying to poke a dragon with rusty fork.

"Oh really, how about you look before you start gloating too much." Edward says, pointing to the beginning 'battle'. Anak calmly walks up to the trio in front of her, intent on defeating them by herself. The kid with 2 swords on his back seems to be offended by that and decides to face her on his own.

This proves to be a horrible idea as Anak sends the swordsman flying across the arena, crashing against the wall. "Kon! Wake up Kon! Hey, Kon!" Dédé shouts to his teammate, who's got blood flowing down his face **[-79]**.

"See that Bolt? That could've been you if you went to fight against her." Edward explains his point, as Bolt looks at Kon's unconscious body. Things start going downhill for Dédé's team, Anak keeping him at a distance with her Green April, the power boost from Shopin's 'god' proving ineffective as Anak doesn't even budge from the punch straight to her temple. Shopin is sent flying as Anak throws him like a rag doll **[-69 HP]**.

Dédé gives out a battle-cry as he charges at Anak, only for her to throw him like she did to his teammates **[-89 HP]**. As his teammates get back up, Dédé realizes what they must do in order to win. "What, you want more?" Anak questions as Dédé runs at her again. Anak easily dodges the sloppy attack, only for Dédé to keep running towards the throne.

"Kon, Mr. Shopin! RUN!" he shouts, as his teammates run past Hatsu and Ship, who do nothing to stop them, confident in Anak to take care of them. "Well, they're done." Edward notes with dis-interest, formulating a plan to survive Anak's Green April, at least until Baam's Black March piques her interest. As Dédé and his teammates manage to get three feet or so from the throne, Anak appears on top of it in a burst of speed, too fast for Team Dédé to follow. Team Dédé give out screams of pain as Anak takes them out.

* * *

Picking up the crown, Anak puts it on, winning her team the round. "That's right, the time wasn't up yet. 5 minutes" she notes, sitting on top of the throne's back rail. "We're on the same team, but she's too strong." Ship sighs, turning to speak to Anak, ordering her to hand over the crown. A sound strategy. With Anak and Hatsu capable of keeping most, if not all teams at bay, they'd be sure to win, except for one little thing...

"I won't." Anak says, keeping the crown as she lays lazily on the throne seat, which is easily big enough for somebody like Rak to sit in and still have some room.

"Huh?" Ship questions, not quite sure that he heard right. It almost sounded like his super strong teammate was going to laze around on the throne while he and Hatsu would have to protect her, something that she can do with no sweat, from other teams, which might also have super-strong guys!

"I don't want to." Anak clarifies, quite content laying on the throne. After processing that yes, this is happening, Ship makes his displeasure known with a shout of frustration and despair. "WHAT CAN WE DO WITH YOU IN THE CHAIR!? YOU DUMBASS!"

 _#As Ms. Anak sat on the chair before 5 minutes elapsed, this round's winner is the team consisting of Anak, Ship, and Hatsu.#_ Lero Ro announces, as the knocked out Team Dédé is hauled away from the arena.

"Aaarrgghh What's wrong with you Anak! What are you going to do with the crown! The one in the chair can't move!" Ship tries to reason with his teammate, to no avail.

"So, do we go _now_?" Bolt asks, as they watch Ship trying to drag Anak out of the chair.

"Yeah, since greenie over there is sitting on the throne, she'll have to rely on her Ignition weapon. Bolt, you deal with the swordsman, he's got a habit of throwing his red sword up high, attacking you down low with his other one. Hachi, you deal with track suit, be careful though, he's a crafty bastard." Edward orders, pressing the buzzer.

"Don't tell me that you're going to just sit back." Bolt asks, getting ready to run at Hatsu, who's approached by the First Emperor's team.

"You don't have to worry about that, Speedy, I'll be going after greenie." Edward answers with a grin on his face.

"Heh, you're crazy you know that? But then again, I'm following your plan." Bolt banters, taking off in a sprint towards Hatsu.

"..."Cracking a smile, Hachi runs towards Ship, who's currently fighting against Serena and Ho.

 _ **=Heh, so you got yourself a couple of minions, interesting.=**_ Haensing speaks up.

"Well, look who finally woke up." Edward chides, extending Haensing to the size of a war hammer.

 _ **=Yeah, well there wasn't anything interesting going on. But now, that we have a chance at fighting one of those 13 month weapons...=**_ The eagerness to fight is quite evident in Haensing's tone.

"Yeah, we're going up against the Green April, think you can beat it?" Edward questions, using his Bomb Dash to take flight.

 _ **=As if that two-bit hook can withstand my bulk.=**_ Haensing brags

"I'll hold you to that." Edward replies, heading towards the throne, taking a stealthier approach by pseudo-flying.

* * *

Things aren't going great for Ship. He was sure that he could take on Serena and her other teammate, their third member sleeping soundly, wrapped in a blanket, like a caterpillar in a cocoon. His plan was to aggravate either one of them to throw off their teamwork. That didn't work out well, as Ho managed to get him in a full nelson hold.

 _'Sorry my friend! She said it, I'm just an ordinary...'_ Ship is broken out of his inner thoughts, as the sound of a projectile traveling hitting flesh, a surprised gasp and the sound of a woman stumbling to the ground. Noticing the absence of a fist colliding with his face, Ship opens his eyes. Looking at Serena, Ship can see that she's lying on the ground, a couple needles sticking out of her exposed calf **[- 48 HP. Paralysis. AGI drops to 1]**.

Looking towards the person who saved him, he sees a girl wearing a black and yellow striped Yukata, giving her the appearance of a bee, especially with that rifle, with ammo belt of needles leading into the gun.

"Why the hell did you do that? They're the ones who have the crown!" Ho shouts, trying to convince Hachi to work with his team. Ship takes advantage of Ho's distracted state and delivers a headbutt to Ho's face, causing the androgynous boy to lose his hold **[-23 HP]**. Hachi quickly shoots Ho with needles, paralyzing her as well **[- 36 HP. Paralysis. AGI drops to 1]**.

"Oi, you're one of Ed's teammates, thanks for the save." Ship, expressing his gratitude is caught by surprise as Hachi sprays him with needles, knocking him to the floor. "Hey, what gives!? I thought we were on the same side, you damn bee!" Ship curses, as Hachi simply smiles mischievously, looking at the effects of her toxin has on the three.

"Hachi, look out!" Bolt warns, getting between Hatsu's sword and Hachi, and blocking the sword with his armored leg **[-15 HP]**. "Hatsu, you came to save me!" Ship rejoices. With Hatsu there, they could have a chance. All he'd need to do is avoid getting hit by that damn bee's needles.

"What happened to that other team?" Serena asks in confusion. The team with that Super-duper-something guy seemed strong, there's no way that Hatsu could've beaten them this quickly.

"Eh, they were already K.O-ed when I got there." Bolt laughs, pointing to the defeated all-male team, laying on top of each other.

"So, Hachi, how about we team up on this wanna-be samurai?" Bolt asks, with Hachi's only response being a nod and aiming her weapon at Hatsu, ready to make a pincushion out of him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Laure, but, it's up to you" Serena whispers.

* * *

As Hachi, Bolt and Hatsu prepare to duke it out, Laure, who was laying on the ground a while ago, throws his hand out, gathering Shinsoo into a ball of light. It's unfortunate that Ho and Serena got paralyzed, but he could probably win this round, or at least manage to knock that lizard off the throne with his shinsoo attack.

"Shit! He's a Wave Controller! C'mon Hachi, we gotta book it **(2)**!" Bolt says, picking up Hachi and running away from Laure, who fires the gathered Shinsoo at Anak in a beam, surprising the pseudo-princess of Zahard. She barely manages to dodge it.

"Shit!Shitshitshitshit! Where the hell is Edward?" Bolt questions as he and Hachi take advantage of the distraction that Laure inadvertently gave them, Bolt using his legs to attack Anak, while Hachi provides cover fire. "Get 'em Hatsu!" Ship shouts, crawling towards the throne like a worm, the paralysis from Hachi's needles wearing off.

As Anak endures one of Laure's Shinsoo beams **[-40 HP]** , Edward falls from above, spinning at high speeds, forcing Anak to block his attack with her Green April, grunting as her weapon clashes with Haensing **[- 55 HP]**.

"You guys mind if I cut in?" Edward cheekily questions, breaking off from the struggle between him and Anak, who looks at him, or more specifically, his weapon with interest. When their weapons clashed, she could feel that the hammer was of similar origin to her Green April.

"Heh, you might not be the one the bait was for, but you're good enough, IGNITION!" she shouts, swinging Green April around as it de-compresses, becoming larger and longer.

* * *

"Oi, isn't that a bit dangerous?" Edward asks, dodging the initial sweep with his Bomb Dash, dodging as the Green April starts branching. Anak provides no response, save for maniacal laughing. **_=So, what's the plan now that she's gone berserk?=_** Haensing questions as Edward blocks another one of Green April's branches.

"We hold on until Baam's Black March starts reacting to Anak's Green April." Edward explains, dodging another one of Anak's attacks. _**=That chestnut has a 13 month weapon? Why didn't you tell me earlier?!=**_ Haensing interrogates his wielder with indignation.

"How the hell would I know that you got beef with the 13 month series?" Edward retorts, blocking another one of the branches before dodging another one.

 _ **=Oh I don't know, maybe it's because I was thrown away when those bastards were getting built?=**_

"Sarcasm is unbecoming of you." Edward deadpans.

"STOP IGNORING ME AND GIVE ME THAT WEAPON!" Anak shouts, swinging her Green April as one giant blade, which Edward manages to dodge. "Oh, close but no cigar." Edward taunts, dodging the retaliatory attack by dropping down onto the ground, before charging at her, intent on scoring at least one hit. But as Edward gets closer, something else catches Anak's attention. She could feel it, a another one of the 13 Month series, but where? Ah, there it is.

As Edward reaches Anak, she leaps towards Baam's team, easily breaking through the bars and costing her team the game.

"So, did we win?" Bolt asks, Appearing next to the throne. "No, but we did get rid of strong player." Edward replies, feeling real good about himself. If things went like this, there was no way they could lose, not that winning was his main objective.

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks! Was it good, bad or okay, please leave your thoughts in the reviews.**

 **1: His bag, which allows him to store People and Objects inside a pocket dimension, but it doesn't reduce the weight of the objects inside**

 **2: A slang term for to travel at fast speeds or to hurry the fu*k up.**

 **No questions for this chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello guys, and YAY, it's December, the season of giving! But man, has anyone else seen that Krampus trailer? that shit's freaking scary. *shivers* But yeah, I also watched the whole RvB series, and some tears were shed, especially at the end. Anyway, onto the story, and the final rounds of the Crown Game.**

 **EDIT: I forgot about the WS Eel equipment buffs**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith and Bolt, Hachi was designed by Lliono, my beta reader. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

 _#The 3rd round will begin shortly! The teams that want to join, press the buzzer before the count is over!#_ Lero Ro announces from his Lighthouse, thinking back to the bet between Mr. Baam and Ms. Anak. If Mr. Baam's team wins the game, Ms. Anak will have to give up her Green April and won't attack Mr. Baam before the test ends. However, if they lose, Mr. Baam will hand over the Black March to her.

"What the hell was up with that crazy lizard? That weapon was a monster." Bolt asks, thinking back to the second round when that crazy lizard's weapon started to go wild. Him and Hachi had to keep constantly moving or they would've died.

 _#1!#_

"She's a Zahard, and her weapon is a weapon of the 13 month series, the Green April to be exact. A compression weapon that can branch out." Edward supplies, pondering if they should go in this round. It doesn't matter if they win or not. If he manages to kill Rachel, he'll make himself an enemy of Baam, and by extension, an enemy of his team. The only real roadblock is that demon she's got with her, the other's should be distracted or otherwise occupied.

"I guess that makes sense. But man, I'm glad that she's out of the game." Bolt sighs in relief, glad that he won't have to be facing some one like that.

 _#2!#_

"But why did she jump?" Hachi questions, bringing up the important question, _why_? What possessed her to jump? With her sitting on the throne, there wasn't anything that could've stopped her team from winning. So why did she suddenly jump to one of the holding rooms?

"Probably because she sensed another one of the 13 month series." Edward answers. Might as well save his strength for the last round.

 _#3!#_

"And how do you know that?" Hachi asks with suspicion.

In response Edward pulls out Haensing, who seems to be chewing on something."Because I have the 'older brother' to those weapons." Edward answers, as his teammates look at the living weapon.

 ** _=What're you looking at? Can't you see that some people are busy here!=_** Haensing exclaims, glaring at Edward's teammate's.

"What were you chewing on anyway?" Edward asks, wondering where what ever Haensing is eating would go. Do living weapon's even _have_ a organ for digesting?

 _ **=Well if you must know, I was chewing on**_ **this** _ **.=**_ Haensing opens his mouth, revealing a green shard, already half-chewed. Looking closely at the shard, Edward's face turns white, as if he'd seen a ghost.

 _#4!#_

"Y-You _ate_ a part of the Green April? How? I would've noticed if you had taken a bite out of it." Edward questions, fearing the reprecussions if Anak or anyone else notices it. If Zahard sends a fucking hitsquad after a Princess who took a 13 month series weapon and married some cook, what kind of army would he send after someone who's weapon can actually harm a 13 month series weapon?

 _ **=Oh, quit your belly-aching, they won't notice a thing. The old man made us so that we all fix ourselves whenever we ignite or drop the ignition.=**_ Haensing says, setting his partner's worries at ease. Haensing couldn't remember all that much after they started to create the 13 month series, but he remembers that all the strong ignition weapons have that failsafe, ensuring that nothing short of complete obliteration would make them useless.

"Ok, but _when_ did you even get a piece of Green April?" Edward asks, tired of Haensing dodging the question.

 _ **=It was when we clashed, I scratched a bit off the Green fool, and it got bigger when the crazy bitch ignited.=**_ Haensing answers. She started screaming bloody murder at him, telling her wielder to Ignite her so that she can "Slice him up until he's nothing more than confetti", which in his opinion is uncalled for. It was just a scratch! a itty bitty scratch.

 _#5!#_

"As much as this whole thing confuses, and to be honest, scares me, Shouldn't we enter this round?" Bolt cuts in, having enough of the weird talk between a boy and his weapon.

"Nah, this round is going to get... _messy_ enough without us in the mix." Edward answers, knowing that Koon's going to pull his little magic trick in this round. And what the trick is? How to make 3 teams look woefully inadequate and complete idiots.

"What're you, a fortune-teller or something?" Bolt ask incredously, but stays seated on the floor none the less. Ed's been right about things so far, so why start doubting him now?

"Yes, and while I'm not a doctor, I don't like your odds of procreating." Edward jeers. Although his expression gives away that he's just joking.

"That ain't funny man, I heard that there's a tribe of women somewhere on the Tower, who kidnap strong guys, peeling their dicks after they're done with them." Bolt complains, remembering one of his grandpa's stories from the times he was climbing the Tower. He didn't make it beyond the 20th floor though, deciding to settle down.

"Then you don't have anything to worry about." Hachi notes, poking fun at Bolt.

"You guys suck, you know that." Bolt deadpans, turning to watch the current round.

* * *

"So Hachi, neat weapon, what's it called?" Edward asks, deciding to make small talk with the quietest one of their team. If there's one thing that Edward learned from watching anime and reading manga's and fanfictions, it's that the quiet ones always have something to hide. Of course he learned a lot of other stuff, like when a bad guy is gloving, you don't want none of that.

"It's called Malbeol, a gun that can launch needles at a rapid speed, coated in paralyzed toxins capable of knocking out a baby White steel eel." Hachi answers with an enthusiastic tone, obviously proud of her weapon. She'd built her baby by hand from scratch, and it helped her a lot during her time in the Outer Tower. Without it and her poisons, she wouldn't be here.

"But you're obviously familiar with that species of Shinheuh." Hachi continues, referring to Edward's clothes. Clothes made from Shinheuh hide is a common thing in the Tower, but any defense that the Shinheuh clothes might have are easily outclassed beyond the 20th floor.

"Yeah, I got these when I killed an adolescent one." Edward replies, surprising Hachi a bit. She just figured that Edward killed a lot of baby ones, but and adolsecent one isn't too bad, a team of regulars from the 15th floor can kill those beasts quite easily.

"Uh, Ed, the rounds over, so should we join the next one?" Bolt asks, cutting into their conversation, a little worried about their chance of beating the team that has the Throne. That albino guy's a crafty one, and the big chocolate bar is fucking scary!

Maybe they can win if they can match things up perfectly with Hachi fighting the albino, Edward hammering the chocolate bar, while he'll run past them and steal the crown.

"Let me guess, Baam's team has the Throne?" Although he knows how things should go, it doesn't hurt to double check.

"Uh, yeah." Bolt nods.

"And did Koon, the one with white hair, change his hairstyle?" Once again, it doesn't hurt to check. Besides, after this round, there wouldn't be any hidden allies to stop an full-out assault.

"Uh... yeah?" Bolt answers, not seeing the reason as to why Edward asked that question.

"Then no, we wait for the final round." Edward answers, leaning against the wall.

 _ **=You know something, don't you partner?=**_ Haensing asks, as Lero Ro starts counting.

"What, you don't want us to enter the round, because the albino kid tied his hair a bit differently?!" Bolt shouts incredulously.

"I'll explain soon enough, just watch the match." Edward says, watching the round.

"Fine." Bolt says, deciding to wait. It's just the 4th round, there's still the last one left, so no worries.

* * *

As the three teams enter, a tall guy with maroon hair speaks up, addressing a brown haired guy with squinted eyes."Hey, You! We shouldn't fight...yet. We should focus on the other team first, then we'll fight for the Crown."

"I agree we should work toget-ugh!" the guy is knocked by a boomerang thrown by a guy with partially shaved hair.

"Wow, what the hell?!" Bolt exclaims as the boomerang guy's teammate, a humanoid prawn apparently starts eating a red haired girl from the squinty-eyed guys' team.

"You knew." Hachi states, looking at Edward, as the third member of the ambushed team, a green bogey with arms is stunned by a pale girl with black hair and dark clothes, after she whispers a few words, obviously using Shinsoo to paralyze the green blob. She could see that he kept an eye on the team that attacked the other one.

"That I did." Edward admits.

"But how the heck did you know that?" Bolt questions, confused about his teammate.

"Those guys appeared only after Koon had visited the bathroom." Edward answers.

"What does that albino have to do with anything?." Bolt asks, not seeing the connection. There's no way that a guy like that could hide three people on him and sneak them through the Tests.

"That suit case of his, the Manbarondenna, allows him to store numerous things, including people, inside a pocket dimension, and copy objects." Edward explains, as Koon's henchmen start fighting the last team left standing.

"That's freakin' sneaky." Bolt mutters. With something like that, you could store an entire army and carry it wherever you go.

"That it may be, but you can't argue with the results." Edward states as Koon's henchmen leave the arena, ending the round, causing Edward to shake his head in disappointment. If Koon had ordered them to stay in the ring for 5 minutes, they would've gotten a free pass onto the next floor.

* * *

 _#Since there is no other team left, the Team of Koon, Rak and Baam are the winners of the 4th round, congratulations.#_ Lero Ro announces from his Lighthouse, a bit annoyed at Koon for smuggling people through his Shinsoo veil.

"So I take it we're entering?" Edward only gives a nod for an answer. "Sweet."

"Ok, listen, there will be a lot of Regulars trying to get to the Crown, or try to thin their ranks, so stick to the back and when I give the signal, head for the Throne." Edward instructs as Lero Ro starts counting down.

"What's the signal?" Hachi asks, prepping her weapon.

 _#1!#_

"A big explosion." Edward says, rising from the floor. This round could either go really well, or really, really bad. He could kill Rachel, but he could also get beaten up or killed, probably both.

 _#2!#_

"And what else?" Bolt asks, pressing the buzzer. Ed seemed to know a lot of stuff, so maybe he could warn them about something dangerous in this round.

 _#3!#_

"...Avoid a chick in a leotard, wielding a staff and another chick wearing a brown cloak with weird floating disk things, you'll die if you fight them." Edward adds, remembering vaguely what Hwa Ryun and Androssi look like at this point in time.

 _#4!#_

"You're the Guide." Bolt says, stretching out a bit.

 _#5!#_

"Let's go." Hachi says as the gates open, flooding the arena with the remaining teams who are either suicidal, cocky or desperate enough to enter the last round.

 _'I'm coming for you, you damn bitch.'_ Edward thinks to himself, enlarging Haensing to a sledgehammer, before charging into the mass of regulars, taking them out with golf swings, Hachi right behind him, as Bolt sprints around the area, delivering hit and run attacks.

* * *

"Whoa! None of that!" Bolt yelps, sliding under Hwa Ryun's staff, before picking up speed and continuing his run. Hwa Ryun watches in thought as Bolt runs off. That guy and his team, none of them should be here. When she first appeared on Evankhell's floor, she saw that the paths of numerous Regulars end on that grassy plain, him and the bee girl included. Those two were supposed to fail the test, due to not finding a third partner in time.

But here they are, climbing the Tower, still alive. And then there was their apparent leader, the boy with the hammer, who's path she couldn't read. He's the second one so far who's path she couldn't see, the other one being the boy sitting on the throne. Looking around her, Hwa Ryun can see that she's taken out enough Regulars, deciding to move on to the Throne.

"I will tear you into pieces!" the humanoid crocodile on the Throne team shouts, charging at Hwa Ryun with his spear, which she easily dodges, by jumping over the spear-wielder and lands straight on the Throne, startling the boy with the Crown. The boy's teammate attempts to come and help, but is stopped by Hwa Ryun's teammate.

"Put the Crown down." Hwa Ryun orders, pointing the tip of her staff at Baam. There's no reason to hurt him, all she needs to do is make sure that he doesn't pass yet.

"...I'm protecting the crown 'til the end." Baam says defiantly. He knows that he's the weakest of his team, and this is the only way that he can help them. He's not going to let his friends down.

"..." Hwa Ryun raises her staff, preparing to strike Baam with it. This strike should only incapacitate or cause the boy to jump off the throne. Either way, mission completed.

* * *

"Where do you think you're going!" Edward shouts, using **[Bomb Dash]** to catch up to a regular trying to run away from him, and the pile of unconscious Regulars, before smashing the poor Regular to the floor **[- 60 HP]**. Noticing that Hwa Ryun has already gotten past Baam's team and is now ready to strike him, Edward smiles on the inside, happy that things are going as planned for now.

As Hwa Ryun swings down her staff, Androssi blocks her attack with a giant disk. "And here comes the cavalry." Edward mutters as Hwa Ryun leaps back, deciding to gain some distance. She was not contracted to fight against a Princess of Zahard, just to stop the Irregular from passing early.

"Isn't that suit embarrassing? I wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like that." Androssi mocks Hwa Ryun as the giant disk shrinks down to the size of a pin.

"Be careful, Baam! They're our enemy!" Koon warns, blocking a sword strike from one of Hwa Ryun's teammate's. Even if they saved Baam from getting knocked off the throne, who's to say that they didn't stop the other team so that they could do it themself?

"Don't worry, we won't take the crown." another person wearing a brown cloak, who Edward and Baam recognize as Rachel, for different reasons. Baam recognized her by the sound of her voice, and is both surprised and happy about seeing her. Edward on the other hand, is seeing red.

"Hachi, Bolt, NOW!" he shouts, jumping towards the throne, or more specifically, Rachel with a **[Bomb Dash]** , the explosion signaling his teammates to head for the throne, only for them to be intercepted by Rak and Koon.

"Don't think that it's going to be that easy." Koon taunts with a cocky demeanor as Rak prepares to attack with his spear, while Hachi leaps back, intending to fight them at a distance. While Koon would have preferred to stop the whole team from getting to the Throne, 2 out of 3 isn't bad, especially when the third one can fly over them.

Now he can only hope that the mystery team will help Baam to defend the crown, as unlikely as that is.

* * *

"R...Rachel?" Baam questions as Rachel keeps quiet. Why isn't she answering him?

"R-" the sentence is cut short as Baam notices Edward as he flies past him, his hammer already in half swing, aiming for Rachel's head. But before his attack can connect, a giant figure wearing the same kind of brown cloak that Rachel and Androssi are wearing swats him aside, causing Androssi and Hwa Ryun to move aside as Edward flies past them **[-110 HP]**.

His master, Headon-nim ordered him to protect the Irregular girl, until she finished her mission, and until that mission is completed, he would not allow anyone to attack her. The hammer-user was clearly aiming for a lethal attack.

"Ugh, DAMN IT!" Edward shouts, punching the ground, followed by an explosion. Now that Rachel's pet monster is here, there's no way that the secondary objective can be completed, so goodbye 5500 EXP. Deciding to focus on other things, Edward uses **[Observation]** on Hwan Ryun and Androssi, who are once again, fighting.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\  
Hwa Ryun LV: 21  
/Tech\  
|Guide|**

 **HP: 210  
MP: 213**

 **STR: 24  
INT: 49  
VIT: 26  
WIS: 50  
DEX: 33  
AGI: 31**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** **Medium Shnisoo Resistance Lv5:** **the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-43% from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts of Shinsoo.}  
**

 **EXP Gained from defeating: 1800**

 _'Oh, so now my [Observation] tells me how much EXP I get from beating particular enemies, interesting'_ Edward thinks to himself, before taking a glance at Androssi's stats.

 **/Regular\  
Androssi Zahard. LV: 22  
/Power\**

 **HP: 220  
MP: 330  
**

 **STR: 75  
INT: 34  
VIT: 55  
WIS: 32  
DEX: 46  
AGI: 58  
**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
Medium Shnisoo Resistance Lv10: ****the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-58% from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts of Shinsoo.}  
Blood of Zahard: The blood of Zahard runs through your veins.** **{+ 45 STR, +45, +45 AGI. Increase STR, VIT and AGI by 2 every level.** **}**

 **EXP Gained from defeating: 2500**

"Ah, shit." Edward mumbles to himself, before picking himself back up. He might not be able to get that sweet, sweet 5500 EXP, but he can settle for 4300.

* * *

"I told you, your attacks don't work!" Androssi says to Hwa Ryun, twirling her red needles. They had been trading blows for a while now, with Hwa Ryun using her shinsoo-controlled staff to try and hit her while Androssi blocks with her "Lapel Pin" Arms inventories.

"Well, how about mine?!" Edward shouts from behind Androssi, attacking her with Haensing. With the AGI boost **[Bomb Dash]** , he actually manages to hit her, sending her skidding across the floor **[- 120 HP]**.

"Hey! how dare you hit a lady like that?!" Androssi shouts with indignation and a small amount of fear. She managed to channel Shinsoo to lessen the blow, but it still hurt like hell. And she could even feel the hammer eating away at her Shinsoo. She'd have to be careful around this guy.

"Why the hell did you attack me? We're not trying to stop you guys from taking the crown." Androssi says, hoping to get these two to attack each other. Of course she lied when she said that her team wouldn't try to stop the other teams from taking the crown. Rachel said that she didn't want any harm to befall the kid sitting on the throne.

"Bullshit! Your teammate punched me when I tried going for the crown." Edward says, pointing an accusing finger at Androssi.

"And you decide to take your anger out on me? How brutal." Androssi mocks, not noticing the orange glow that's slowly building up beneath her.

"Oooh no, I hurt a wittle girl, what're going to do, call your daddy to beat me up?" Edward taunts her with mock-worry and baby talk.

"You know _do_ know who I am right" Androssi questions, not believing the nerve of this guy. First, he attacked a Princess of Zahard, and a fake one, but both are still tantamount to suicide. And now he's mocking her? Does he have a death wish or something?

"A girl who's dumb enough to let his opponent get the jump on them." Edward replies cheekily, tapping his foot on to the ground, activating his trap. The only reason he kept her talking was in order to use his **[Explosion Inducement]** to build up enough explosive shinsoo to take out a truck, right below her.

"That was just once, at it won-" Androssi's sentence is cut short by an explosion, which sends her flying **[-80 HP]**.

"Actually, that makes it two." Edward points out, before turning to face Hwa Ryun, who's already gone. So much for gratitude.

"Wait wasn't there something el-" Edward's pondering is cut short by a punch to the back of his head, causing him to hit the ground, _hard_ **[-120 HP]**. Looking up at his attacker, Edward sees a very nettled Androssi Zahard, her yellow eyes, making her glare oh so much scarier.

"You're going to pay for that." She states, anger seemingly dripping from her every word. Not only did this punk manage to get the drop on her once, but twice! That would not go without retribution.

 **[Through a specific action, a Passive Skill: Sense Danger has been created]  
Sense danger: A natural survival instinct. It allows the user to detect when something bad might happen. The higher the skill level, the earlier it can sense danger**  
 **Passive Skill LV: 1**  
 **EXP: 0/100**

 **[Through a specific action, a Passive Skill: Detect Bloodlust has been created]  
** **Detect Bloodlust: A skill that detects any bloodlust directed at the user. It is an instinctive skill.  
Passive Skill Effect: {Detects bloodlust within 30 meters from the user's location. It also alerts the user of its origin.}  
** **Passive Skill LV: 1  
** **EXP: 0/100**

As Androssi starts walking toward Edward, intent on beating him unconscious and then some, Edward tries punching her, only for her to grab his fist, before applying pressure, causing Edward to grimace from the pain **[-20 HP]**.

"I've had enough of getting struck today, so how about you just stop struggling, and who knows, maybe I'll go easy on you." Androssi says, her tone shoving no sign of mercy.

"Heh, heh, you think that just because you're near me, that you're safe from my explosions, well guess what, you're not." Edward states as his captured fist starts glowing orange, causing Androssi to let go, as if burned by the hand. So this guy wasn't afraid to blow himself up to win. No matter, she'd just have to hit him before he could blow up.

"Well, I guess this means that I can stop going easy on you." Androssi states, cracking her knuckles, before noticing a orange glow on both of her arms, mainly the palm of her right hand, and the knuckles of her left one. That brief contact that his Shinsoo made with Androssi's hand was enough for him to spread it to her palm, and from there to her knuckles.

"Heh, checkmate." Edward chuckles, snapping his fingers as the orange shinsoo covering her arms blows up in her face, knocking her out **[- 20 HP]**. That was all the shinsoo he could put on her without her noticing it. Feeling tired from getting thrown around like a ragdoll, Edward groans as he falls flat on to the ground, hearing a scream of pain and the sound of two bodies hitting the floor echo throughout the arena.

Craning his neck towards the throne, Edward can see the body of Baam lying on top of Rachel's, while Hwa is preparing to swing again. "Oh, come one, I try to attack her with a hammer, and the big guy throws me like rag, but when she does with her staff, he just stands there." Edward wheezes out before blacking out.

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks! Yeah, I left you guys on a cliffhanger, but it should build tension, somewhat. And before any of you start complaining about Edward beating Androssi, well, he caught her by surprise. He knew what she could do, while she didn't know anything beyond that he has a hammer and can cause explosions. Oh, and since I posted A.g.a.P Edward's stats, I might as well do them here, so here are Edward's level, stats and perks at the end of this chapter**

 **/Irregular\  
Edward Smith LV: 16  
** ** **/Power\**  
**

 **Exp: 1050/1600**

 **HP: 500  
MP: 95  
**

 **STR: 9** ** **{+210}  
** INT: 27  
VIT: 10** ** ** **{+160}  
**** WIS: 29  
DEX: 12  
AGI: 8{+30}**

 **Points: 33**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** **High Shnisoo Resistance LV1:** **the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-62.3% from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with High or lower lower amounts of Shinsoo.}** **  
**

 **And now, I'll answer some of the Quest reviews that I thought I should reply to.**

 **Susanoo-Overlord: Yes, Lliono already pointed that out, so don't worry, Edward has an explanation.**

 **And instead of asking a question, I'll ask two, but they're both related to the same problem:  
Which team should I put Edward on during the Hide-and-seek test, and which one of the Regulars who failed to pass the Position test in the canon should I allow to continue to climb the Tower?**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hi! Here's Chapter 5 of T.o.G, I hope that you'll enjoy. Since I made Chapter 4 so short, I decided to update this story first. And I recently bought The World ends with You for the ds, and I'm having a bit of a trouble understanding how to evolve and get more Pins, could anyone help me with that?**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith and Bolt, Hachi was designed by Lliono, my beta reader. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

"Well, then, why did you want to see me Mr. Lero Ro? Was there a problem during the test?" Han Sung asks, pouring in her instant coffee mix into a cup of hot water. He could already guess what Lero Ro wanted to speak to him about. It was probably about those two Irregulars that Headon-nim entered into the test.

"Yes." Lero answers, opening his own instant coffee mix, latte to be specific, that the Supervisor had handed to him.

"Oh, what problem?" Han Sung asks, playing dumb. If Mr. Lero Ro was going to give him dumb answers, why bother asking smart questions.

"I guess you already know." Lero Ro states in an icy manner. The supervisor was the one who ordered the Bonus Game to be held, and adding the team from the other test site.

"Well, I guess not." Han Sung answers mockingly, stirring her coffee.

"The Bonus game ended without a winner." Usually this wouldn't be a cause for concern, but the way the conclusion came to be was a bit suspicious.

"There were two teams remaining at the end, but surprisingly, both teams gave up the crown." Lero Ro clarifies, pouring his latte mix into the drink. The team from his Test site had given up the crown in order to get their comrade healed, a reasonable excuse. The mystery team didn't have such an excuse, their third member, a Princess of Zahard was merely knocked out, with some minor burn wounds.

"Oh, I see. But what's the matter with that?" Han Sung questions. The team that would have won the bonus game couldn't have gone up to the next floor just yet in anyway. They would have to take part in the Position Test, they simply would be able to go up to the next floor, regardless if they passed the tests or not.

A simpler way of putting it would be: The team that would've won the game would get the training without any pressure on them.

"Please be honest. I already heard everything from Quant..." The man had been all too eager to boast about getting out of trouble for his fiasco of a test. What made him think that holding a no-holds barred 3-minute death match, especially without checking who the Regulars involved in the test are?

"About the reason why you suggested the Crown Game. You wanted to send the team who survived Quant's _'test'_ to the next floor quickly." Lero Ro surmises.

"However, both teams chose not to fight over the crown." he continues.

"The team from the other site had the advantage in strength, but they chose not to fight for the crown." While both teams had an equal amount of members, the gigantic Regular from the other site was leagues above the other team's remaining members.

"Besides, one of the Regulars from the other site was an acquintance of a Regular from our test." Lero Ro mentions, his tone all but accusing.

"There's a rule that states: People who've had previous association before entering the Tower can't take the 2nd floor test." This rule was made in order to make the tests fair, disallowing gangs and groups of people from working together and targeting other Regulars.

"But you told me to do so." Lero Ro states. What the Supervisor ordered him to do was a direct violation of the rules, a minor one, but an essential one none the less.

"What is the real purpose of sending them here, supervisor?" Lero Ro asks, finally getting to the point, causing Han Sung to stop stirring his coffee.

"Mr. Lero Ro. Do you know why we gather all the Regulars and test them?" Han Sung's rather simple question catches the Ranker off-guard.

"Well, isn't it to test is the Regulars are qualified to go up the Tower?" Lero Ro answers, not seeing where the supervisor is going with this.

* * *

"No. It's not. The reason why we test them is because..." Han Sung pauses as he lifts the stick he stirred his coffee with to eye level, coffee dripping from the stick. If he's going to educate Mr. Lero Ro, he might as well be dramatic and educative about it.

"They have very dangerous powers. They come into the Tower to fulfill their own desires." Lero Ro can't argue with that. During the time he was climbing up the Tower, he had met many kind of individuals, each one of them trying to get to the top, well to the 134th floor at least, to fulfill their own desires, whether these desires be malevolent or benevolent.

"Glory, money, power, or something else that they want... But what if they desire something dangerous that could be harmful to the world?" Han Sung asks, philosophically. Of course the definition of what's 'harmful' to the world is a broad definition that changes from person to person. for some people, Irregulars are harmful and dangerous to the world, but they also bring change to the Tower, forcing it and it's individuals to adapt, endure, and progress.

"What if there's someone who dreams of the world's end? It could be disastrous." Of course, that's a radical extreme, but a possible one.

"That's why we test them and sort out the black sheep. 'the ones who bring threat to the Tower'." Of course, what he didn't tell Mr. Lero Ro was that then those 'black sheep' are sent to the F.U.G to mold for their purposes. It's rather surprising how the Zahard Empire hasn't noticed it yet, perhaps they simply assume that the 'Black sheep' are killed?

"Do you get it? The test is not meant to find 'Outstanding candidates'. It's meant to find the 'Black sheep', those that could bring threat to the Tower." This little piece of propaganda is drilled into the head of Rankers who are in charge of administering and supervising the tests. Mr. Lero Ro is a relatively new test administrator, so it falls upon the more experienced Rankers to teach him that.

"I don't understand the intention behind your words..."

"Mr. Lero Ro. Who do you think is the most dangerous amongst the Regulars taking the test this time?" Lero Ro's sentence is cut short as Han Sung interjects.

"Didn't he lose in the crown game? Because of the person I sent to you." Han Sung points out.

Lero Ro doesn't answer. He simply drinks his latte, before lowering it with a bit more than necessary force.

"Thank you for the drink, supervisor. See you later." Lero Ro says, heading for the door, but stops as he slides the door open.

"Supervisor." He addresses his superior, remembering one more thing that puzzled him.

"Yes?" Han Sung answers. What else did Mr. Lero Ro have to talk about?

"Have you ever seen someone... who's not from the Great families nor without an 'Guardian's contract' manipulate Shinsoo freely?" Lero Ro asks, thinking back to the crown game.

"No I haven't. That is beyond the rules of the Tower." Han Sung answers.

"Oh, But I have heard of one. Urek Mazino, he was an Irregular." he adds, remembering the rumors he'd heard of the Founder of the Wolhaiksong organization. The man was given sobriquet 'Ray Barracuda', due to his combat style of launching Shinsoo at the speed of light, and from what he had heard, the man is also a bad rapper.

"I see." Lero Ro answers, catching on what the supervisor is insinuating as he closes the door.

As soon as Lero Ro left, a smile appeared on Han Sung's face. "Mr. Ro is hard to handle, unlike silly Mr. Quant." he notes, sipping his coffee, taking his time to appreciate the flavor and texture of the drink.

* * *

 _'I've never seen something like that.'_ Lero Ro thinks to himself, remembering the final events of the Crown Game. Ms. Ryun had left soon after Mr. Edward had attacked Ms. Androssi, heading for the throne, attempting to attack the blonde girl from the other test site, only for Mr. Baam to take the blow, costing his team the game. But before the game could be ended, Ms. Ryun was preparing another attack.

 _'It wasn't like he was controlling the Shinsoo, but like the Shinsoo attacked of it's own volition.'_ A shockwave shout out from Baam, viciously attacking Hwa Ryun, cutting through her mask and her right eye, causing her to scream out in pain and shock, falling on her knees as she tries to stop blood matching her crimson hair flowing down her face.

 _'It wasn't that powerful but the point is, 'the way' he did it. It violates the rules of the Tower.'_ Lero Ro sneers as he looks out to the horizon from a balcony. And then there was Mr. Edward. He was able to use Shinsoo in the form of explosions to fly, which would suggest that he might be related to either the Yeon family or the Blitz family, but he doesn't exhibit the other traits that members of those families exhibit **(1)**.

No red eyes or hair, and no maniacal temper. He also seemed to be able to convert the surrounding shinsoo for surprise attacks, if his fight with Ms. Androssi is any indication. And if he was a member of either one of those families, why didn't he use regular flames?

He'd have to keep an eye on both of these individuals.

* * *

 **[You have rested on a comfortable bed. HP and MP healed by 100%]**

"Just perfect." Edward dismisses the notice as he rises from his slumber, taking note that he's in a room, that he can assume is a Hospital room on the 2nd floor. He really hopes that it's the 2nd floor, instead of the next one. If his team somehow managed to win the Crown game, which he highly doubts, he couldn't get himself involved with the main group. And that would mean that things would go as they did in canon.

 _ **=So the sleeping beauty is finally awake=**_ comes a snide remark from his right. He had apparently been keeping a tight hold on Haensing even while he was unconscious, if the numbness in his arm is any indication.

"Yeah, yeah, make your jokes. How long was I out?" Edward asks, hoping that he wasn't out of it long enough for him to fail the Position test. Of course unlike Baam, who had taken a serious blow to the head while trying to save a bitch, Edward had his Gamer power to patch him up.

 _ **=Eh, you passed out yesterday after handing that Zahard cunt her ass on a silver platter. Kind of surprised that you're up already.=**_ Haensing's crude language aside, this is good. He'd only been unconscious for one night, which would mean that he wouldn't be late for the position test.

"What can I say, I heal quickly." Edward chuckles, getting out of bed, just as his teamamtes come in to his room, probably to check up on him, or eat some of the fruit situated on the drawer next to his bed.

"So as I was saying... Hachi, are you even listening to me." Bolt asks, noticing that Hachi's not listening to his tale of grandeur.

"No." She states. The idiot had been trying to impress some of the Regulars, mainly girls, with stories of alleged accomplishments. Something about fighting against a man with the strength of ten Coral Bears **(2)** with some ragtag group of soldiers in training. She didn't really listen closely to what he said, more focused on creating a more effective toxin for her needles. The one she's been using so far doesn't seem to have the same effect it used to.

That might be because of the shinsoo. She'd definitely have to look into that later.

Edward clears his throat, causing his teammates to notice him. "Oh, you're already up. You okay? You got pretty roughed up" Bolt asks, wondering how Edward is already up and about without a scratch on him. He got smacked by a giant, took a punch from a Princess of Zahard to the back of his head, and then passed out. The medical staff said that he wouldn't be up for a week.

"Yeah, nothing that a good night's sleep won't take care of." Edward answers, bed had been _really_ comfy, much nicer than the one in his world.

"So, what'd I miss?" Edward asks, wanting to know if he missed any crucial info.

"Eh, nothing much. Nobody won the Bonus game, and we were given a 3-days break." Bolt answers, picking up a banana from the fruits basket. Edward didn't seem to want any, so why let the food go to waste?

"It's the first day of the break." Hachi supplies, suspicious and impressed at how quickly Edward recovered from, what the medics said, a severe injury to the back of his head, plus the throw from the big guy of the mystery team did a number on his ribs. Yet as soon as he was laid to a bed, his body started regenerating.

"Yeah, and the teams are also disbanded." Bolt mentions, throwing the banana peel into the trash can.

"Tragic." Edward answers cynically. He wasn't 'friends' with them, they were merely people who he was forced to partner up with or fail the test. Oh sure, they've managed to prove that they're useful, so he'll try to party up with them. But for now, they could be competitors for a chance to climb the Tower.

* * *

"Oh, and the lizard girl wanted to talk to you about something." Hachi mentions, whether she ignored or didn't catch the sarcasm in Edward's tone is left up in the air.

"Yeah, she didn't what she wanted talk about, though." Bolt supplies, eating another banana.

"I see." Edward answers, processing the information. Everything is going according to plan so far. Baam lost the crown game, so he has to stay on the 2nd floor. Anak got the hold of Black March, and now needs help Igniting it. Unfortunately he didn't manage to kill Rachel, but it doesn't matter all that much. As unfortunate it is for Baam to end up trained by the F.U.G, it'll make him strong. Plus, maybe Rachel will have an _'_ _accident'_ while Baam is away.

But, just in case, maybe he should warn Koon about Rachel. He seemed to be the kind of guy who's doubtful about people.

"Well, see ya around Ed." Bolt says, leaving the room. Hachi doesn't say anything, simply leaving.

 _ **=What do you think the lizard wants to talk about?=**_ Haensing asks, not looking forward to being in the same room with Green April so soon.

"I think she wants help with Igniting the Black March." Edward answers, unsure of if he even could Ignite the finicky Needle. She seemed to be very picky about who could Ignite her, preferring handsome guys. Now while Edward isn't a Quasimodo, he's no bishounen, so she'll probably just zap him like she did, or will do to Ship, depending on _when_ exactly Anak asks Ship to try and Ignite it.

 _ **=I thought the chestnut had the Black March?=**_ Haensing questions, wondering what the two 13 month weapons are talking about. Well, not really talk, more like Black March telling Green April to stop screaming bloody murder.

"I guess they had a bet, and Baam lost." Edward informs, walking out of his room, he might as well go and make sure that Baam is doing okay, well, okay for an unconscious guy at least, and see what Anak wanted to talk about, and maybe try and make amends with Androssi.

 **[Optional Quest: Chat with monsters]**

 **\- Go and see what Anak wants to talk about.  
\- Go and check up on Baam to see if he's okay  
\- Try to make amends with Androssi**

 **Rewards:**

 **Victory:  
**

 **\- 300 EXP for every completed criteria  
\- Increased reputation with Anak Zahard Jr, Androssi Zahard and Baam's team  
**

 **Failure:**

 **\- Decreased reputation with Anak Zahard Jr, Androssi Zahard and Baam's team  
**

 **[Accept?]  
Yes?/No?**

 _ **=Hah, I bet that smug bitch ain't feeling so high and mighty, being gambled away!=**_ Haensing guffaws, amused by Black March's situation. She had always been so smug about how she was 'oh so elegant' and wouldn't pick just anybody to give her full power. And now that she apparently found the right guy, she got gambled away like a cheap ornament!

"Yeah, It's kind of amusing." Edward chuckles, accepting the quest. So apparently his power has a reputation system, hopefully it's nothing too complicated. Thankfully, there's three cursors pointing him to different directions, more than likely representing where Baam's, Anak's and Androssi's locations are.

The green is obviously Anak, the orange is more than likely Androssi and Baam's cursor is black with a golden outline, makes sense. Since Baam isn't going anywhere, Edward picks to go and see what Anak wants help with.

* * *

"So, what did you want to talk about." Edward asks, entering Anak's room, which is the same that all the regulars have. Edward doesn't flinch as Anak points an un-Ignited Black March at him.

"Ignite it." Anak orders. Since tracksuit couldn't Ignite it, maybe this guy could Ignite it. He has a Ignition weapon with a sentience, so he should be able to Ignite it. Green April doesn't seem to like his hammer though, shouting about how it stole a part of it, but when she inspected it, the Hook was in perfect condition, like it always has been.

 _ **=Heh, the crabby girl giving you trouble?=**_ Haensing remarks, causing electricity to start sparking around the Black March, like a vicious snake, ready to bite, causing Anak to drop the pissed off Ignition Weapon.

"Haensing, be nice. We didn't come here to antagonize anyone." Edward chides.

 _ **=You mean that**_ **you** _ **didn't come here to start a fight. Me on the other hand...=**_ Haensing corrects as Anak observes the conversation happening in front of her. She'd known that Ignition weapons like her Green April and Edward's Hammer had sentience, but seeing it actively converse with it's wielder is a foreign concept. Maybe she should start treating her Green April a bit better...

"Well, here goes nothing" Edward hesitantly picks up the Black March, expecting a shock of electricity to greet him. I t was safe to say that he wasn't expecting the world around him to turn into a burnt orange and yellow void.

 _ **#Hmm... No, you're not the one, but somewhat closer than the last guy.#**_ a feminine and sultry voice speak up from behind Edward as he feels something caressing his cheek. Turning his head to look at where the voice came from, he sees a young woman with long blonde hair reaching down to her feet, wearing a brown dress with a salmon red sash across her figure, looking at him with hungry eyes and a disappointed smile.

 **[Observation]**

 **/13 Month Ignition weapon\  
Black March LV: ?  
/All\  
|Needle|**

 **#Oi, how about you get off of my wielder, before I remove ya myself.#** Haensing speaks up. Turning his head to look at Haensing, Edward sees a giant lizard with an muscular upper body, leading down to a tail, bony spikes traveling down Haensing's spine, leading up to a green spike covering the tip of his tail.

 _ **=I don't know, he doesn't seem to mind it. Maybe he would rather wield an elegant Needle like myself over a brutish hammer.=**_ Black March chides, causing Haensing to glare at her with his four eyes. Well, two can play that game...

 _ **=At least I wasn't given away due to a bet.=**_ Haensing shots back, enjoying the angered look that comes onto Black March's face. She was separated from the best wielder she's had in a long time, because that green harpy's wielder couldn't just be satisfied with owning just one 13 month series weapon, threatening that cute boy to accept her bet.

"So where is this exactly?" Edward asks, disentangling from Black March, before she can continue arguing with Haensing. As much fun it would be seeing two sentient weapons insult each other, he doesn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

 _ **=Well, this place is a mindscape where Ignition weapons with a conscience can talk if they don't want others to hear.=**_ Haensing explains. He didn't really understand _how_ it worked, he just doesn't question it. Best not to try and unravel confusing stuff like that.

 _ **=So, I take it you're here to try and convince me to let that thief lizard to use my full power?=**_ Black March sneers, not wanting anything to do with Anak. That Lizard only wanted her for the power she possessed. She barely even acknowledged that the 13 month weapons have a personality and wants of their own. While the others were content with having a strong wielder who could match their personality, Black March wanted a wielder who wouldn't flaunt the power she gives as their own. Of course them being a handsome and a caring guy didn't hurt.

"Yep, but I take it that you're not interested?" Black March's glare is a damn clear indication of her answer.

 _ **=No.=**_

"Okay, but why?" Edward asks, curious of her reasons. Of course the Manhwa showed that she only allows handsome guys to wield her, but that sounds a bit too simple.

If she only Ignited for guys, why is she still a prized weapon, only given to Princesses of Zahard who have proven themselves worthy? If she didn't ignite for anyone, how would Zahard and his empire know for sure that Black March is an Ignition weapon, and not just a regular Needle that Ashul used to fool them?

 _ **=Well, that's a first one. Usually people just demand that I do what they want me to.=**_ Black March notes, a smile gracing her lips.

* * *

 _ **=Very well then, here's my reason. All my previous wielders, save for a select few, just wanted me for my power. Not for my opinion or my personality, just my body.=**_ She explains, remembering all those who tried to force her to Ignite after shouting at her to just be quiet and obey, calling her a piece of property, and saying that she didn't have the right to make her own choices.

"That's fucked up. You seem like a good person." Edward grimaces. While he might not be the social of people, or the nicest one, unless he's forced to act like one, but he wouldn't treat anyone like an object.

 _ **=Quite.=**_ She agrees. Maybe this guy wouldn't be a bad wielder. Sure, he's not a perfect one like that Baam kid, but he's closer than some of the other ones. The only problem could be that brute, but one step at a time.

 _ **=But back to your question. I won't ignite for someone who barely even acknowledges me, not even if they're are a child to one of the princesses of Zahard.=**_ March explains, letting a important piece of information slip on purpose. She waits for a reaction from the boy in front of her. How would he react to such a dangerous piece of information? Would he try and blackmail her with that info?

A princess of Zahard isn't allowed to have biological offspring, so a child of one would be hunted just as fiercely as an Irregular would be.

"Well, I tried. Hope that Anak won't try and punch me or something." Edward shrugs. He already knew Anak's dirty little secret, so he isn't surprised by the information that Black March just told him.

 _ **=Huh, so the lizard ain't the original one, interesting=**_ Haensing notes, understanding why the little Needle let info like that slip.

"I guess she's in the same boat as me and Baam then." Edward shrugs. There's no way that Headon couldn't have known that Anak was a offspring to one of Zahard's adopted kids. That rabbit is a god-damn enigma.

 _ **=You do realize that information like that is valuable?=**_ Black March asks. _**=You would be highly rewarded for giving the Zahard empire info that would help them get back not one, but two 13 month weapons.=**_ She suggests, baiting him in order to see if he's just like those she rejected. If he took the bait, then she would fry his brain. She wouldn't be stuck with that troublesome child and her guide dwarf again.

"I won't be ratting her out, that would be disrespectful of a good fighter." Edward declines. If he ratted her out, then that R.E.D riceball would attack her way too soon.

 _ **=I suppose you're not half bad, do keep in touch.=**_ Black March winks, as the void shatters like glass, sending Edward back to the reality, where he's greeted by Anak, who's looking at him with interest.

* * *

"You zoned out for a while, what happened?" she asks. When Edward had grabbed the Black March, he didn't get zapped like tracksuit did, he just froze and didn't react to anything she said. And when she tried prying the Black March from his grip, assuming that he was dead or something, he didn't budge at all, having a death grip on the Needle. Maybe he managed to convince the Black March to Ignite for her?

"Well, I ended up in this weird void, and Haensing and Black March were there, and I tried to convince her. She said that she won't Ignite for people who just 'want her for her body' as she put it." Edward explains, handing over the Black March.

"I'll keep that in mind." Anak says, looking at the Black March in deep thought.

"Oh, and you should be careful with the Rankers, or they'll take both of the 13 month weapons, _junior_." Anak's eyes go wide in shock, before she stabs the Black March right next to Edward's head.

"How?" she asks with a serious tone, promising pain and death, unless she hears a good answer as she points the Black March at Edward's throat. She had been overjoyed when that weird rabbit had approached her with an offer to enter the Tower, and have a shot at Revenge. She wasn't about to let some guy to reveal her secret.

 _ **=It was Black March.=**_ Haensing speaks up, ratting out his fellow Ignition Weapon. Better to have the lizard angry at the needle she can't hurt rather than have her angry at someone she can hurt.

"What he said." Edward confirms, sighing in relief as Anak withdraws the Black March away from his throat.

"If you tell anyone, I'll-"

"Relax, I want to fight you and Green April again someday, preferably when I'm a bit stronger and experienced." Edward interjects jokingly.

"Hmph, I guess my secret will be safe for a long time then." Anak smirks. She can understand the need to fight strong opponents. The feel of your blood pumping through your veins as the attack of you and your opponent collide is exhilarating. And this guy managed to chip off a piece of Green April, something that no one she's ever fought before could do.

"Well, I'll be going." Edward says, exiting the room, now letting Baam's cursor lead him. It's best to let Androssi to cool off, so that she won't try and bite his head off. Besides, it'll be over quickly. Maybe he should try and do some exercises during the break. There's probably a gym or something like that on the testing floor, to allow Regulars to get stronger.

 **[Through planning ahead, WIS increases by 1]**

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks! I'll be splitting this mini-quest into different chapters, I hope that you guys don't mind. Also, I'm planning to write the whole Position Training Test arc, giving a glimpse into how the other positions are tested, instead of focusing on Edward's.**

 **1: Both of these families are famous for producing Hwayeomsa's/Flame users, with the Yeon family member's being "flame itself" from the moment they're born. The traits of the Quant family members are: red hair, red eyes and a maniacal temperament.**

 **Only one member of the Yeon family has been shown in the Manhwa, so I can't really identify any traits from that family, if there are any. The only thing that I can add is that they're _very_ matriarchal, not allowing the males of the family to be involved in any important decisions  
**

 **2: A original race of Shinheuh I created. Think the Ursa Grimm from RWBY, only instead of bone armor and spikes, the armor and spikes are made from coral, which they use to gather shinsoo, and when attacking, use the coral spikes on their back as exhaust pipes to launch themselves forward at high velocity.**

 **And now, I'll answer some of the Quest reviews that I thought I should reply to.**

 **Kyros: I see no problem with trying to pair Edward with Anak, especially after the Submerged Fish test. And I take it, that you didn't read Susanoo's second comment? I don't want to squish Quant, only humiliate, and possibly piss him off.**

 **Overlord Susanoo: Yeah, no matter which team Edward ends up on, He'll have someone who dislikes him on the team. And he would most likely try to stall Quant long enough for Ho to kill Rachel, unless there's a good reason for him to keep Rachel alive.  
**

 **No questions for this chapter, since I asked two questions last time, but feel free to ask questions, or answer some of the old ones, If you haven't already.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: HOLY SHIT! Did any of you see the 6th episode of RWBY's Volume 3! Shit hit the fan, big time! And I have some news to you guys, I'm going to start a rewrite of A gamer among Pirates. The re-write would mainly fix some of the Gamer Data, and it would add some more scenes. I don't know how long it would take, but on the plus side, the story will be longer.**

 **But anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS! Please enjoy the chapter.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith and Bolt, Hachi was designed by Lliono, my beta reader. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

Grasping the handle of the door that the cursor pointed him to Edward pauses as he hears an ongoing conversation, quickly suppressing his boiling anger as he recognizes one of the voices. Well, he really should have seen this coming but he might as well use this opportunity to fish for some info.

"So, Mr. Koon, please don't tell Baam about me." Rachel asks, not wanting to worry his friend.

"What do you mean don't tell? Do you want me to tell that you're not you?" Koon asks, not understanding why Rachel is asking him that. She seems to mean a lot to Baam, if he's willing to give up the chance to advance to the next Floor, just to stay with her.

"Yes." Rachel says, seemingly sad that she'll have to essentially hide from Baam.

"He wants to be with you so much. Why can't the two of you stay together?" Koon asks, remembering his own experience with his sister, Maria. After he'd help her become a Princess of Zahard, he had felt something missing... something important.

"That's something that I'd like to know too." Edward says, opening the door, surprising Koon and Rachel. How long had he been waiting behind the door, and how is he even able to move?

"Shouldn't you be bed-ridden?" Koon asks, surprised and suspicious of Edward's recovery. The medical staff had said the he had a lot of fractured bones, a result of Rachel's teammate attacking him. Even with the medical science in the Tower, the recovery process should've taken a week at the very least.

"I don't see why, I feel right as rain." Edward shrugs. If he plays dumb about his healing, they might just stop probing for info.

"You were severely injured. multiple bone fractures." Rachel explains, wondering how Edward managed to heal this quickly. He seems like a regular human, and there isn't a race in the tower that can heal that quickly, well none of them look humanoid at least.

"Meh, nothing that a good sleep won't fix. Anyway, back to the conversation, why do you want to hide your identity from Baam?" Edward asks, wanting to hear what her excuse is. Of course he knew that the plan is to have Baam end up with the F.U.G, and make Rachel the "heroine of the story", but what excuse would she say to others.

"Have either one of you heard the legend of the tower?" She asks, confusing Koon.

"The story that if you can make it to the top of the tower, you can see the real sky and stars? What about it?" Edward asks, not really understanding where she's going with the story. Well, it's not really a story, it's just common sense to him.

"Well, ever since the first time I heard the story, I always dreamed of watching the stars from the top." Rachel starts explaining.

"You do realize that not even the Zahard Empire hasn't reached the top, only 134th Floor?" Edward points out. If a Empire of ridiculously strong Regulars, and maybe some Irregulars haven't managed get to the top, which might be a million Floors up, what makes her think that she can? No matter how many people she'll get to help her, it'll be impossible.

"I do, but I won't give up until I reach the top and see the stars." Rachel proclaims

"That's quite ambitious." Koon smiles at Rachel's innocent and naive dream. Too bad an innocent girl like that would be trampled under the heels of the masses that lie, cheat and stab people in the back in order to climb the Tower.

"Yeah, but it also has a lot uncertainties. Do you even know how many floors the Tower has?" Edward points out. Even if you become a Ranker, that doesn't mean that you'll live forever.

"..." Rachel remains silent, looking downtrodden. She knows that there's no saying how many floors are left. Maybe she's lucky and there's only 200 Floors in the Tower.

"I thought so. But, I admire your guts." Edward admits. It takes some twisted and apathetic guts to do what she did. Betraying someone who revealed himself as someone who the people controlling the Tower want dead, tricking said person's friends in order to have them carry her up the Tower and then unleash a Soul-sucking demon in human flesh who's made of multiple kids, who each seem to have their own demonic power.

"This Tower might just need more innocent dreamers like you. So, aim for the stars," Edward says, leaving the room. Not technically a lie. This Tower needs innocent dreamers, who can try to change the system, but it certainly doesn't need Rachel.

* * *

"It'll make it that much more satisfying when I kick you back down." He whispers to himself as he walks away from the room.

 _ **=What's got you so pissed, partner?=**_ Haensing asks, noticing the anger radiating off of his wielder.

"It's that Rachel girl." Edward answers. It's not how she acts that pisses him off, but the _why_ and _how_ she climbs the Tower. Lying straight to their face, betraying them, all because she believed in some stupid fairy tale. And when Baam passed the test that she was too scared to complete, the bitch makes excuses, saying that he had help. Did she not realize that Baam was going to try to pass the Ball test, with or without the Black March?!

 _ **=You mean the blonde who chestnut was looking for? What about her?=**_ Haensing asks. That girl's presence didn't feel the same as his or Black March's wielders, who Haensing figured were both Irregulars. But the blonde didn't feel the same as the Regulars either, she felt like some sort of a middle ground between the two.

"Yeah, what about Rachel?" Androssi asks, spooking Edward, who gives out a yelp of surprise, something that Androssi takes small pleasure at how easily she managed to surprise him. Throughout the Crown Game, this guy didn't seem to flinch at anything, and he even managed catch her off guard twice. But now she's starting to even the score.

"Well, she seems like she's got some ulterior motive." Edward starts explaining. While he wasn't expecting to bump into her just yet, he might as well try to warn her about Rachel. Sure, Androssi is the kind of girl who will take out the competition if her chances at advancing are in danger, but she at least doesn't use others to do it for her.

"Well doesn't everyone here have a ulterior motive?" Androssi points out, lazily leaning against the wall. Most, if not all people in the Tower have an ulterior motive, whether they're from the outer, middle or the inner Tower.

"Yeah, but none of them proclaim that they want to reach the top of the Tower, chasing a fairy tale now do they?" Edward points out.

"Rachel wants to reach the top of the Tower?" Androssi chuckles a bit at the naivety of Rachel's dream. She'd be an old granny by the time she reached the top, even with the longevity Shinsoo grants people, if there even is a top that is.

"Childish, I know. But that's not the only thing. She and Baam know each other before they entered the Tower." Edward points out.

"Hmm, that is shifty, but the Supervisor ordered it after our team killed all the other Regulars." Androssi shrugs. Since they killed all the other Regulars, there wouldn't be anyone to oppose them for the other tests, forcing them to merge two test sites.

"Look, I know that the Crown Game was made to get rid of your team as soon as possible, but why they chose the batch of Regulars that had someone who knew Rachel, _and_ a false princess, which would set you off?" Edward asks, as Androssi looks at him, surprise and pride on her face.

"I'm impressed that a Regular can recognize a fake princess." Androssi compliments. Most Regulars are from the lower levels. They wouldn't recognize a genuine article from a false princess even if they were beaten over the head with it. But bomberman over here seems to have a lot of knowledge about the Tower, but he doesn't look like a member of any of the great 10 Families.

"But, I suppose you do have a point. What do you suppose we do?" She asks, thinking back on the whole event. The Supervisor would have had access to the records of the Regulars taking the test, so why would their team be put in the very team that would erect a reaction from them? Rachel would want to protect Baam, while Androssi herself would be intrigued by the fake. And Akryung seemed completely subservient to Rachel.

Hell, when she first met the two, she thought that Rachel was an Anima, while Akryung was just a weird looking Shinheuh.

"You actually want to help? And here I was under the impression that you hated me for beating you in the crown game." Edward chuckles nervously. He hadn't really expected for Androssi to ally with him, not yet at least.

"Oh believe, I'll get back at you for that, but this conspiracy thing sounds interesting." She admits. The position test would be a piece of cake for her, and as hard it is for her to admit, the false princess shouldn't have a problem with the test. So why not enjoy a side-show during the test?

"Well, two heads are better than one I suppose." Edward gives a lopsided grin. Hopefully she won't try to sabotage his efforts to pass this floor.

 _ **=Make that three heads.=**_ Haensing interjects.

"And what can you do? You're just a hammer." Even though she wouldn't admit it, Androssi's actually a little scared of the hammer that Edward is wielding. Sure, she'd heard of Ignition weapons, and she was planning to acquire a weapon of the 13 Month series, a weapon with a sentient soul. But a weapon that could eat through Shinsoo? Something like that is dangerous, even more so when wielded by a competent wielder.

 _ **=I can eat your Shinsoo for one.=**_ Haensing taunts, making a chomping gesture. He would not be belittled by anyone, especially by one of the Hypocrite's adopted girls.

"I'm sorry for Haensing, he seems to have beef with the 13 Month series weapons, and apparently the Princesses of Zahard." Edward apologizes, stuffing Haensing head-first into his pocket, his handle still sticking out, but his voice is muffled by the fabric.

"So, what positions do you think you'll be assigned to?" Androssi asks, interested in if she'll get the chance to get back at him before they pass the floor.

"Well, I might be assigned either to a Fisherman or a Wave Controller, but I don't think that I'd have a problem as a Light Bearer." Edward answers in thought. Back in his world, when he had taken a Quiz relating to the Positions, he ended up with the Defender Position. But during his time in the Tower, he had mostly been engaged in close-range combat, augmented with Shinsoo Explosions.

"But, I think You and Anak will end up as Fishermen, while Baam and Laure will end up as Wave Controllers and I think Koon will end up as a Light Bearer." Edward adds, remembering the Positions of the four Regulars and one Irregular who had shown their skills on the Crown Game.

"I don't know, that Koon kid seemed like he'd be a Scout, what with his speed and all." Androssi mutters. That albino was fast, nearly matching the lizard's own speed.

"Well, how about a bet? The loser owes one favor to the winner, but nothing lethal." Edward suggests, extending his hand to shake hers. Sure, this was a rigged game from the start, but you know what they say, if you don't rig the game, you're not trying.

After a bit of contemplation, she comes to a decision. "I can't wait to see that you're wrong." she taunts, shaking the offered hand.

 _'And I'm afraid that you'll have to wait for a long time.'_ Edward thinks to himself, noticing a Data screen appear in front of him.

 **[Optional Quest: Chat with monsters]**

 **\- Go and see what Anak wants to talk about{Complete}  
\- Go and check up on Baam to see if he's okay{Complete}  
\- Try to make amends with Androssi{Complete}**

 **Rewards:**

 **-900 EXP  
-Increased Reputation with:**

 **-[ 25th Baam]{+25}**

 **-[Koon Aguero Agnis]{+30}**

 **-[Anak Zahard Jr.]{+30}**

 **-[Black March]{+50}**

 **-[Androssi Zahard].{+35}**

So, it would seem like the Quest windows don't tell you everything about the Quest, That's good to know. "Oh, and do you know where I might find a training facility of sorts? I want to train before the Position Test." Edward asks, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. Sure he could level up his **[ID Create]** until monsters start appearing, but mysteriously disappearing and reappearing would draw too much attention, and not the good kind.

"Geez, for a detective, you sure don't know how things work. Just use your Pocket, it should have the map of this place already downloaded." Androssi sighs, struggling to understand the guy in front of her. The guy has combat skills you'd expect of someone from the 10th floor, a mysterious weapon and he healed from broken bones overnight, but he doesn't know how to find his way to a training area.

"Thanks Ms. Androssi, see you at the Position Test!" Edward says, walking away from Androssi.

"Stupid idiot, can't believe I lost to him..." She pouts. She's a Princess of Zahard, a member of the "Ultimate Species", specifically chosen by the Great King Zahard. So how the hell did she lose to that guy. It couldn't be just the weapon he had, or the explosions, though those _did_ catch her off guard. But when she hit him, it felt like she was hitting a White Steel Eel, and it wasn't just when she hit the clothed parts of him, but even his skin was tough like White Steel Eel hide. But when she shook hands with him, his skin was way softer. Did the fact that he wasn't wearing the jacket make a difference?

* * *

"Pocket, Invisible mode: Off." Edward says, causing the multipurpose orb to turn visible. It's kind of interesting how something that's so commonplace in the Tower can go invisible, but the White-X observer is a rare item. Maybe he should try and hook up something like that to an Armor Inventory, but now he should focus on the task at hand and leave the interesting experiments for later.

"Pocket, show the route to the gym of this ship." Edward looks in interest as the Pocket glows for a while before a pale yellow cursor with the word "GYM" hanging from it appears over the Pocket. And not even a second behind, a data screen appears as well

 **[Pocket linked to [Gamer] in order to improve features.]**

"Well, that's handy." Edward comments following the cursor as it leads him through the halls, coming to a halt as soon as Edward steps into the gym, a room housing lots of different training equipment, like dumbbells, a treadmill, which is currently occupied by Bolt, who seems to be too focused on running at top speeds to even acknowledge Edward entering the Gym. It's honestly surprising that a place like this would even have training facilities like this, but maybe it's there in case some of the Regulars get bored or if they didn't train their whole lives to prepare for the Tower.

 **[You have entered the Sub-Dungeon: Physical exercise Gym.]**

 **\- EXP gain +50%  
\- Stat increases double  
\- HP can't drop to 0**

 _'Oh, I'm going to have fun with this.'_ Edward thinks to himself, heading to the dumbbell rack. Probably one of the easiest exercises to increase Strength. _'But first, a little test.'_ he picks up one of the heavier ones, easily lifting it like a piece of paper. It's as he though, with the STR boost from Haensing, he's too strong to gain any Stat increases from lifting wights. And he can't leave Haensing lying around, but maybe he can be put into his **[Inventory]**? Could that even work, since Haensing is a living weapon?

"Let's see if this works." he mutters, looking around to make sure that nobody's looking before taking Haensing out of his pocket and shoving him into his **[Inventory]** , before the living weapon can start yapping.

 **[Ignition Weapon: Haensing Yuchung is unequipped. STR -120. VIT -80.]**

As soon as the message appeared, Edward can really feel the weight of the Dumbbell, quickly setting it back onto the rack, opting to pick one of the lighter ones. If he exercises his strength while his own STR stat is low, then increasing it should be a cinch!

 **[Through thinking ahead and preparing for the future, INT has increased by 2!]**

After picking one that isn't too heavy or too light, he gets to work, doing one of the basic motions that he remembers, lifting the weights above his head before bringing them back down, rinse and repeat.

* * *

 **[One training montage later...]**

 **[Through exercising, STR has increased by 12!]**

 **[Through exercising for an extended period of time, VIT has increased by 6!]**

"I think that's enough for today." Edward mutters to himself, setting the dumbbells back on the rack. He'd definitely come back here, especially if the Stat-increase doubling buff works on investing Stat points. It's kind of sad that something like this is only on the 2nd Floor. But eventually, the stat bonus would stop being as helpful as it is.

"Well, I probably should re-equip Haensing." he mutters, opening his inventory and double-taps Haensing's icon, equipping the Ignition Weapon **[+120 STR. +80 VIT]**.

 _ **=NEVER PUT ME BACK THERE!=**_ Haensing shrieks, appearing into Edward's right hand with a flash of light. Thankfully, it was the symbiotic kind of shriek, only audible to the Ignition weapon and the wielder.

"Put you where?" Edward asks, recovering from Haensing's shriek. Who knew that a hammer could scream so loud?

 _ **=That weird void that had your clothes.=**_ Haensing explains. When he was shoved in, he couldn't hear or even feel anything. It was just an empty void, nothing to signify the passing of time. It was like being in the state of non-existence.

"Oh, you mean my **[Inventory]**." Edward nods, leaving the gym. So sentient weapons DO retain awareness while in the Inventory, interesting. That brings up a lot of questions like: What does it look like? An armory, or are you just in a big pile with the other items?

 _ **=Nuh uh, that was no Inventory, it was a black void, from there was no hope of escaping=**_ Haensing shivers in fear, remembering his experience there. Although it may have been brief on the outside, in there you could easily lose the sense of time.

"Well, it's not really the inventory that everyone else uses, but my own special **[Inventory]**." Edward explains, motioning to his Gamer Inventory, which Haensing looks at, utter terror written over his face.

"It's more like a pocket dimension that allows me to store things in there." Edward showcases this by dragging his grey jacket out of the **[Inventory]** before putting it back in.

 _ **=Ok then. But PLEASE don't put me back in there!=**_ Haensing pleads. He'd rather spend a day in a pile of rotten food rather than be put back in there.

"Chill, I only put in there to lower my own strength." Edward chuckles at the sight of the Ignition Weapon pleading like desperately.

 _ **=If you wanted me to lower the amount strength I give to you, then just ask.=**_ Haensing grumbles, not understanding _why_ someone would want to less power. Yeah, it could be used as a surprise attack, but he's a fucking hammer! What about him screams surprise attack?

"I'll keep that in mind." While it would be easier to just shove him to **[Inventory]** , Haensing might start making things difficult. Besides, it's a good way to get the jump on somebody. Fool them into thinking that you're weak, but when you do hit them, increase STR to as high as you can.

"Well, there's nothing else to do, so I might just head back." Edward mutters, heading back to his assigned room, letting his Pocket lead the way. Maybe he should level up his ID Create and ID Escape skills, since everybody else is probably resting from the Crown Game.

* * *

 **[Outer Tower: Zahard's 5th Floating Castle...]**

"Uaa, so cool! It's like a real-life Inventory from a video game!" A girl with long purple hair, a small portion of it set in a pony tail exclaims, burying her face in a pillow as he watches the boy with the living hammer, that according to Opera **(1)** , can absorb Shinsoo, walk away. She had just been taking a break from observing one of the Test at the 90th Floor, where a team was fighting a A-Rank Shinheuh. And to her surprise, she found a interesting guy with a power that transferred features from RPG's into RL!

And from what Opera can tell, it isn't Shinsoo based! This might actually be an interesting game to watch! And the guy's already making friends with that late bloomer Androssi and her cute little taboo niece, so there might be some drama in the future. Things are getting so interesting on the 2nd Floor!

First, three Irregulars appear, two of them possessing Ignition weapons, while the third one has a Monster servant! Then the guy with Yuri-Eonni's **(2)** weapon allies himself with a Koon kid. And then the Hammer-boy manages to beat Androssi-Eonni with a sneaky explosion. So cool! Plus, there's the sub-plot with the Coffee addicts plan! This game is getting really _really_ interesting!

"This game is getting so~ooo interesting!" she giggles. The combination of Hammer-boy and Chestnut would be a devastating one. With the Hammer-boy's Ignition Weapon blocking Shinsoo attacks, and Chestnut using that unnatural talent he seems to have with Shinsoo manipulation to mess the enemy up or straight up blasting them with Shinsoo blasts, like that Mazino guy.

Maybe those two could provide her with the _u_ _ltimate_ game. Especially if they manage to build the perfect team from the Regulars assembled on the 2nd Floor right now.

That Koon kid would be a good pick, along with Androssi-Eonni and Junior. Androssi-Eonni seems to have a habit of being out of the norm, since she entered the Tower so late and Junior obviously has a grudge with the people who killed Anak-Eonni. None of the other Regulars really show any promise, aside from that staff-wielding redhead who lost an eye and that Eurasia family sloth.

* * *

 **[2nd Floor: Evankhell's Mothership: Edward's Room...]**

 _ **=So, what you're saying is that you have a power that allows you to interact with the world, as if it was a game?=**_ Haensing asks, laying in front of Edward. After they got back from the gym, Edward explained how his power worked. All in all, it was pretty confusing to Haensing. It didn't sound like anything he'd heard of in the past. But, it does explain some of the weirder stuff about his wielder.

"Yep, that's pretty much it." Edward nods in confirmation to his partner's question. Of course he didn't tell Haensing about where he came from, about this entire Tower being a story in his world. That would cause unnecessary questions to pop up. Besides, the fewer people know about the future, the lesser chances of a Butterfly effect occurring.

 _ **=That's really useful.=**_ Haensing begrudgingly admits. With a power like that, you can easily identify the weakest link of a team, carry numerous weapons on your person, store valuable items where nobody can reach them. But that Inventory is still an utter hell.

"I know right? But look, I know that you don't like the **[Inventory]** but it's the safest place to store you." Edward had been attempting to convince the living Ignition weapon to agree to spend the night in there, which he is adamantly refusing.

 _ **=And I told you that there's no force in this Tower that will make me go there.=**_ Haensing growls. If anyone tries stealing him, he'd just bite their hands off.

"Fine then, we'll continue this conversation at a later date." Edward groans, getting ready to hit the hay. It's obvious that convincing Haensing will be a long project, but carrying him around does get tedious, even if he can shrink to pocket size. He could still be misplaced, and that would a big problem

 _ **=You'll never convert** **me!=**_ Haensing exclaims, before falling to sleep himself.

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks, and happy new year! And could some of you guys do me a favor, and PM me some ideas about what sort of training do the different Positions require. We already know what kind of training Wave Controllers go through, so I probably won't cover that part.**

 **Also, I might hold a poll about the Pairing thing. So far, most of you guys want Androssi X Edward, which I can see why, and have no problems with.**

 **1: The Opera is the pinnacle of Lighthouses, making the Light bearer Position obsolete. In theory, it extends the users scope of information gathering to the levels that it allows the Opera's user to observe the whole tower, well at least as far as the Lighthouse network(Pretty much the Internet for the people with a Lighthouse) reaches, which means that any Floors where the Lighthouse network isn't established, you're flying in blind, no info on what you'll be facing before you get there.**

 **2: Eonni is the Korean Honorific for elder sister, when the speaker is also female.**

 **Current Stats for Edward. Yes, this is going to be something that's in every Chapter.**

 **/Irregular\  
Edward Smith LV: 18  
** ** **/Power\**  
**

 **Exp: 1150/1800**

 **HP: 430  
MP: 116  
**

 **STR: 21** ** **{+210}  
** INT: 29  
VIT: 16** ** ** **{+160}  
**** WIS: 30  
DEX: 12  
AGI: 8{+30}**

 **Points: 39**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** **High Shinsoo Resistance LV1:** **the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-62.3% from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with High or lower lower amounts of Shinsoo.}**

 **And now to answer some Quest Reviews that I thought warranted an answer:**

 **Overlord Susanoo: Who's to say that Han Sung isn't? And as for why Edward didn't think of using ID Create. A: He hasn't leveled it up to the point where it spawns enemies. and B: If he suddenly disappeared and then reappeared, it would be quite suspicious.**

 **And my Question of the chapter is:  
Should I just skip straight to the beginning of the Position Test, or should I cover rest of the 3-day break?**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hi guys! Sorry about taking so long with the chapter, but you RL was being a bitch. And since there's a tie about whether or not to cover the 3-day break, I flipped a coin, heads for covering it and tails for not. Well... I got a heads up, which is good, since there was a lot of good ideas suggested for what could happen during the break. The problem was just coming up with good ideas for the two days left.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith and Bolt, Hachi was designed by Lliono, my beta reader. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

 **[2nd day of the break, Position screening room...]**

"Now then, since we're all here, we should start evaluating the Regulars and select which course they'll take during the Position Test." Han Sung says, standing on a podium, a giant screen next to him. Now that the preliminary tests are done with, the Rankers in charge of the preliminary tests can evaluate the performances of the Regulars to see what position would be the best for their skill set.

"Um, why am I here? Isn't this Lero's batch?" a dark-skinned man with striking red hair and red eyes asks, raising his hand. He's the Ranker responsible for instructing the people assigned to the Scout position, Quant Blitz. Position Instructors are informed of their students two days before the Position test begins, unless they're the Test Administrator.

"Well Quant, three people from your site were mixed with mine, so you have to be a part of evaluating them." Lero Ro explains.

"Fine, let's get this over with." Quant grumbles. He was busy planning how he would tortu-train, yeah train his students, that's what he meant.

"Good. We'll go alphabetically. I've already assessed that Akryung's skills fit the Spear Bearer Position, so first off is Aleksai Amigochaz." The screen shows the image of the tall red haired male with wings on his back, along with some video clips of him fighting during the tests.

"From what he showed during the first test and the crown game, I'd suggest Spear Bearer, any objections?" Lero Ro says, having seen how the Regular managed to beat his opponents with pure arm strength.

"Nope." Quant answers, not seeing anything wrong with that. He had watched the Lighthouse-feed from Lero Ro's site while his Regulars were slaughtering one another.

"Excellent choice. Next is Anak Zahard." Han Sung agrees, filing Aleksai under the Spear Bearer category, as the screen changes the image to Anak's with videos of her fights.

"From what she has shown, she seems to prefer directly assaulting the enemy head-on, making her fitting for the Fisherman position." Lero Ro explains. Although Princesses of Zahard could potentially fill any position, due to the enhanced physical strength granted by Zahard's power's, her mindset and fighting style is positively Fisherman.

"Yeah, what he said." Quant nods, not even listening to what Lero Ro talked about. All he'd have to do is evaluate the three monsters from his site, nothing else.

"Understood, next up, Androssi Zahard." Now the screen shows Androssi's feats and fights, mainly her massacre of the Regulars during Quant's 3-Minute death match.

"Fisherman, for the same reasons as Ms. Anak." Lero Ro explains. The two Princesses are similar, yet opposites in how they approach a fight. Anak goes in with overwhelming brute force, using her Green April to sweep multiple opponents away, while Androssi seems to be more of a duelist, using her Lapel Pins to block attacks and small Needles to strike at the enemy, using Shinsoo manipulation to control their movements.

Han Sung nods, smiling as he pulls up the data on the next "Regular". This should be most amusing...

"Next we have the _boy_ who had a 13 Month Weapon, Bam." A new member to the Irregulars, people who could do the impossible. Whether he'd become someone who would kill a god-being, like Enryu did or someone who would try to do the impossible for his friend like Urek should be interesting to watch.

"Meh, he doesn't look like much." Quant deadpans, picking his nose with his pinkie, uninterested about what position the kid will end up in. He looks way weaker than everyone else who got through the three previous tests, but maybe he'd make it as a Wave Controller, or a Light Bearer.

"Sir, I insist that we put him in the Wave Controller position." Lero Ro stands up. His potential would be wasted in any other position. The way the Shinsoo reacted to his will and his Shinsoo resistance were amazing! Both as a instructor and as a person, he wouldn't let such potential be wasted.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Mr. Lero." Han Sung smiles, agreeing with the kindhearted Ranker. That boy has a natural knack for Shinsoo, and it shouldn't be chained down, but trained to perfection, something that the Rankers of F.U.G would make certain of.

"Thank you." Lero Ro with a satisfied expression on his face, sits back down as they continue selecting the best possible Positions for the Regulars. The selection process is fairly simple, until they reach another "Regular" who showed promise in multiple Positions.

"Ah, here's an interesting one, Edward Smith." Han Sung pulls up the info they have on him, which makes up his fights on the 2nd floor. While that is suspicious, it isn't all that uncommon. There are a lot of bastard children related to "special" families, such as the 10 great families in the middle area of the Tower.

"This will be difficult, but before we begin, may I ask something of you Quant?" Lero Ro asks, wanting to confirm something that had been bothering him. Although he believed that he had the correct answer, it wouldn't hurt to double-check.

"Um, sure?" Quant hesitantly nods, not sure what the blonde Ranker wants to ask. Maybe he'd complain about the poor job he did with his test site, holding a 3-minute death-match without checking the combatants, like the Supervisor did, but c'mon! He was bored, and they got the best Regulars in didn't they, so what's all the fuss about?

"It relates to Mr. Edward. During the Crown Game, he was capable of converting Shinsoo into explosions, and I wanted to know if he was related to your family." Lero Ro suspects that Mr. Edward is a illegitimate child to someone in either the Blitz or Yeon Family.

Although he lacks the physical characteristics of a Blitz, that would explain his ability. If he is an illegitimate child left at the middle area of the Tower, he wouldn't have access to proper Hwayeomsa training, which would explain his unorthodox, yet crafty method of using the flames.

Quant looks at the footage showing Edward's fights in the 2nd floor, analyzing it. While he might not be as talented when it comes to using flames like some of his other family members, he's proficient enough to tell if somebody's part of the family or not, and from what he's seeing, the kid doesn't seem to be a part of it. Even babies of their family are able to use proper flames, but that kid doesn't seem to able to do that.

And he somehow managed to spread his Shinsoo into others and detonate it, although the explosion he knocked the Princess of Zahard out with seemed to be weaker than the other ones, so building up a big boom might take some time.

"Nope, that guy definitely isn't part of the family." Quant shakes his head, confirming Lero Ro's speculations. Honestly, with that proficiency he seems to have with his weird way of using flames, he'd fit with those Yeon chicks and their man-slaves.

"I see. Anyway, I think he'd be fine either as a Fisherman or a Wave Controller." Lero Ro's reasoning is based on the observations he made concerning Edward's style of combat. He seems to prefer being on the offensive, using his explosions to draw attention. But, he's also skilled in manipulating shinsoo, or at the very least, skilled in converting it into explosions.

"I think he'd do pretty good as a Scout." Although the guy isn't exactly fast or subtle, but he seems to be pretty observant. When you're a scout, even if you're fast it doesn't mean jack shit if you don't find anything useful to report.

"Hmm, I think he would be best suited for the Fisherman position, but he also seems to have some skill as a Guide." Han Sung surmises. That boy somehow knew what they would be tested on, even when he appeared on the 2nd Floor with the other Regulars. He didn't pick fights with anyone, and when he came across two people, he didn't try and eliminate them, but opted to wait for the test to end. He even seemed to know about the people young Koon smuggled in, as they waited for him to use up the favor.

And his fighting style was well suited for a Fisherman Position, augmented by his skill with Shinsoo. And his last attack was similar to the F.U.G's signature **'Flare Wave Explosion'** technique, spreading his Shinsoo onto another person, and using it to damage them. But that technique didn't utilize reverse-flow control, and it seemed to take time to build the Shinsoo up to dangerous levels.

"Hm, I see your point Supervisor, I take it that he will be put into the Fisherman course?" Lero Ro asks, wondering how chaotic the Fisherman course will get. 2 Princesses of Zahard and a person who's fought both of them, the ranker almost feels sorry for the young man.

"Yes, I think Hax is going to have a field with this batch." Han Sung mirthfully snickers as he wonders how the female Ranker will react to the calculative young man.

* * *

 **[2nd day of the break, Edward's room...]**

Exiting the bathroom, Edward start's planning what he should do, or more specifically, what he should train. He obviously couldn't use the Zombie ID when he will unlock it after grinding his ID skills, since it would be awfully suspicious if he wouldn't be found anywhere on the 2nd Floor, and he just doesn't need that kind of attention on him.

Maybe he could make a Shinsoo version of a Mana Bolt. And with his explosive ability thrown into the mix, it would turn the little fart of a energy bullet into a missile. The question is, _where_ could he try creating such a technique? Definitely not here, the scorch marks and bangs couldn't be hidden. And there is the issue about Regulars being unable to use Shinsoo if they haven't made a contract with a Floor Guardian.

Sure, he could pass the explosions he used as a side effect from Haensing, but launching using a attack like that? A snowball would have better chances surviving hell than that kind of excuse working

Maybe he should hold off on the idea of creating a projectile attack _after_ the Positioning test begins, since the first thing they seem to do in all the courses is making a contract with a Floor Guardian. Maybe he should just hit the gym to level up his stats, or spar with some of the assembled regulars who aren't pushovers... Maybe Hatsu would be willing to see how he'd fare against a hammer, or that knight guy, who was hanging around that greedy Anima chick?

There's no way in hell he's going to even ask Rak to spar with him. The one thing he doesn't need in his near future is losing a limb or two from fighting a giant anthropomorphic crocodile with Blood Knight and Egomaniac Hunter Trope tendencies. While broken bones and minor cuts might not be a problem for **[Gamer's Body]** to heal, he isn't looking forward to testing if it can grow back limbs.

 _ **=So, what's on today's agenda?=**_ Haensing asks as Edward picks him up. Hopefully, it would be something fun, and it wouldn't involve him being shoved into a dark void where all that is good goes to die. He shivers upon remembering Edward's so-called "Inventory". No sentient weapon should ever be forced to be in there, not even those 13 Month cunts... Ok, maybe some of them do deserve to be in the void, but just for a while.

"Honestly, I'm not sure myself. Maybe I'll hit the gym, or find somebody to spar with." He scratches his chin, considering his options. He obviously couldn't train in a ID, so that leaves the facilities of Evankhell's Mother ship as the only options. And maybe he could lie about Haensing granting him the ability to use Shinsoo, which would leave the option of creating his version of Mana Bolt.

 _ **=Please tell me that we aren't going to fight Lizard Jr again.=**_ Haensing grimaces at the thought of having to fight the chibi who has the Green Psycho AND the Black Snob **(1)**. Those two would probably be even willing to team up, just to kick his proverbial ass.

And although it could be a possibility to scratch a piece off the Black Snob, he wasn't willing to see what kind of reaction it would have with the Green Psycho's shard.

"That reminds me, what's the status on the Green April shard?" Edward asks. What would happen if a piece of a 13 Month weapon would be used to re-forge a weapon? Would the new weapon copy the abilities of the 13 Month weapon the piece originated from? And what about said piece put into a sentient Ignition weapon?

Considering that the 13 Month weapons seem to have a soul, it could create some sort of an imbalance or cause the two minds to fight for dominance, or that would probably be the case if someone attempted to fuse two sentient Ignition weapons.

 _ **=Eh, I'm not sure. It's being digested, but I'm not feeling any different.=**_ Haensing shrugs, feeling the shard slowly being digested. He doesn't know why he started digesting the shard, but for some reason, it just felt _right_ for the Ignition weapon. Who knows, maybe he would copy the Green Psycho's ability to grow multiple heads.

"I see." Maybe any form of change would occur when he fully digested the shard, which brings up a interesting question. Could Haensing copy the abilities of a Ignition weapon that he eats? If so, then the amount of material he ate would probably increase the amount of abilities he gains from the other weapon. With the tiny shard he acquired from Green April wouldn't let him replicate the proverbial forest that she was capable of.

 _'This requires further research.'_ he muses, leaving his room, stopping as he realizes that he doesn't actually know where Hatsu's room is, or where any of the canon team's, save for Anak's and Baam's.

"Ugh, damn it. I guess I'll have to spar with Anak." he groans, walking along the same path that the cursor during the quest showed him. Haensing tries dissuading him from "fighting the chick with a hook that wants to neuter us", but Edward just ignores him, continuing along his path, a resigned look on his face.

But as Edward makes his way towards the section where Anak's room resides, someone notices the look on his face. "Hey, what's got you looking like somebody died?" Turning to look towards the person who said that, he sees Androssi, looking at him with a teasing smile on her face.

"Well, You came just at the right time. I was looking for someone to spar with." Edward smiles. Hopefully she'll agree to spar, so he doesn't have to worry about having his limbs pierced by a oversized hook, just getting stabbed with small needles and getting a bruised ego.

"Hmm, I suppose that explains why you were walking towards the lizards room. And here I thought that you were going to do something naughty." Androssi teases, hoping to elicit some sort of response out of Edward.

"Well, I can tell you that she isn't exactly my type." Edward says, facepalming as he realizes the trap he stepped into a bit too late.

"Oh, so what _is_ your type?" Androssi asks, leaning over to him, interested in what kind of girls would even interest a cold guy like Edward. Maybe a mature lady tickles his fancy. Or maybe a sadist would manage to light a fire in that calm and collected mind of his?

"Look, that isn't important. Do you want to spar, or maybe Anak will provide me a better challenge?" Edward tries derailing the conversation, fighting off a blush from coming onto his face as Androssi leans closer, a mischievous smile on her face.

"As if that damn lizard could provide a better fight than me! C'mon!" She fumes, proceeding to drag Edward by his arm, who is starting to ponder whether this was a good idea or not. Maybe he shouldn't have played the sibling rivalry card to distract her.

 _ **=Yay! We don't have to fight Lizard Jr and Green Psycho!=**_ Haensing cheers, ecstatic about getting to fight someone who doesn't have a grudge against him with the weapons to actually damage him. The needles that this chick has couldn't even be used to give him a acupuncture treatment.

* * *

 **[Evankhell's mothership, sparring arena...]**

"Well, this is rather underwhelming." Edward notes, looking around the hall that Androssi dragged him to have a spar. Instead of something like UFC Cages to go berserk, it's just squares painted on the floor to signify the sparring rings. Honestly with the tech the Tower has, he expected something a bit more... advanced, something along the lines of the Vytal festival arena from RWBY, but this?

That's just sad. _  
_

"What'd you expect, this is just the second Floor, so they're not going to waste resources on any grand arena's." Androssi explains, walking to one of the rings, about 30' in diameter, easily big enough for them to have a sparring match.

"I guess you're right. So, how do you want to do this, best out of 3, and stepping outside the ring counts as a loss?" Edward asks, lengthening Haensing to the proportions of a two-handed war hammer. This should be good experience, but probably not the same amount he got from the Crown Game.

"Yeah. And no Igniting that hammer of yours. we wouldn't want to ruin the ring, now would we?" Androssi asks, stretching her limbs a bit, already thinking of a plan to beat Edward. With the rules in place, she could just keep pushing him towards the edge of the ring, and block his attacks with her pins. Hopefully they can endure his attacks.

Edward nods, noticing a new data screen appearing.

 **[Optional Quest: Sparring with Ghost eyes.]**

 **-Defeat Androssi in a 3 round match.**

 **Rewards:**

 **\- 500 EXP for every round won.**

 **\- 250 EXP for every round lost.**

Okay, so this is rather simple and useful. With Haensing's ability to change his size he could try to slam her from far away, but she would probably see it coming. She might not go for a direct assault, aware of his explosions. But then again, she might just ignore them and try to take him out quickly. He probably could use his Bomb Dash to attack from above, but she could easily dodge it.

He could tell that this was going to be a fun match.

The two fighters stand there, waiting for the other to make the first move, the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a knife. Then as if signalled by a bell, Androssi makes the first move, crossing the distance between them with incredible speed, nearly catching Edward off-guard, but he manages to block her punch with Haensing, and then attempts to counter attack, only for her to lean back to dodge the attack.

Not giving up, Edward continues his attack, trying to hit her with Haensing, this time doing a overhead strike, forcing her to jump back as Haensing hits the floor, a explosion kicking up a cloud of debris. As the dust cloud settles, Edward starts coming up with a new plan, since straight up attacking doesn't seem to work. He'll have to attack her so that she can't dodge.

Coming up with a idea, Edward lengthens Haensing's shaft, causing the hammer part to shoot out of the dust-cloud like a projectile. Androssi sidesteps the attack, causing it to pass by her and dig into the dirt.

"You might want to work on your aim." Androssi teases, looking at the shaft that leads into the dust cloud. It looks like the skills he showed during the Crown game was a fluke, if this fight is any indication. She runs next to the hammer's extended shaft, following it to where Edward is.

Hearing Androssi's heels click against the ground, Edward waits for her to get close enough, retracting the shaft at the right moment, pulling himself forward, as Haensing's head dug deep into the ground. Arm extended, he clotheslines Androssi, catching her off guard with the unorthodox attack **[-45 HP]**.

 _ **=Huh, so that's what you were planning.=**_ Haensing notes, smirking at how they managed to catch Androssi off-guard. But even that was only because she was being cocky. But now that she's been that with trick, so she won't fall for the same one again.

Getting back up, Androssi wipes away any dust on her, and then turns to look at Edward with a irritated look on her face. Now this guy's done it. "Well, I guess now I don't have to hold back." She flashes a predatory grin, cracking her knuckles.

 _ **=Hey partner.=**_ Haensing speaks up.

"What?" Edward asks, careful not to make any sudden movements, to avoid agitating the wild animal in front of them. Not even the WS Eel was this scary.

 _ **=I think we probably should've asked Lizard Jr to spar with instead.=**_ Haensing concludes.

"I think so too buddy." Edward agrees, backing away slowly as Androssi calmly walks towards them, fists clenched.

* * *

 **AN: And that's that folks, I hope that you guys enjoyed the chapter. And yeah, I don't know where the bit with Androssi asking Edward what kind of chicks he likes. And once again, I apologize for being so late with the chapter, but I had a writers block for a while, and my internet connection was being sucky.  
**

 **1: Little nicknames Haensing mockingly calls Green April and Black March, and he'll have nicknames for the other 13 Month series weapons.**

 **And now to answer some Quest Reviews that I thought warranted an answer:**

 **Overlord Susanoo: Well, ageing is a confusing thing in the Tower, but there seem to be a couple of rules.**

 **1: People who live in the Tower live for a long time, and more Shinsoo control slows their ageing process down even further, possibly to the point it appears to be frozen.  
** **2: Only Zahard and his 10 Warriors/the Family heads are "Immortal", as in unable to die of old age. But since they're Irregulars, hell, they're the FIRST Irregulars who got Immortality, save for Hendo Bloodmadder, after clearing the test that the Guardian if the 100th Floor gave them, it can be assumed That Irregulars who pass the 100th Floor Guardians test become "Immortals".  
3: It can be assumed that the growth of the body is proportional to the growth of the mind, although that might be just a side effect. But skill in Shinsoo manipulation and control seem to have a effect on physical appearance as well.  
4: Age is just a number in the Tower.**

 **Redripper666: Well, if you're talking about Haensing, he was going find out no matter what. But if you're talking about Repellista, she sin't going to do anything just yet.**

 **Kyros: Are you talking about the Soul thing that Daniel used, and Bam copied later on? And I might make Ed level up his Stats during the position training.**

 **Quest (29.12.2015): Gotcha**

 **Quest (30.12.2015): Oh you bet I am going to make him create some new skills, especially the always reliable Mana Bolt, or whatever I'll call the Shinsoo using version.**

 **Quest (15.1.2016): Thank you for the support.**

 **And my question of the chapter is:  
What Teigu or Shingu should I give to Edward in "What goes around, comes around?" It can be a canon one or a OC one.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: SIU's back, and so am I! A quick note though, after this chapter, we'll jump over the third free day, as I can't think of anything interesting to happen on that day. In other news, I read all of Hunter X Hunter up to the newest chapter, and let's just say that I got a few interesting ideas I could use for Edward's skills.**

 **Also, since I'm using the name "Edward" for all of my fanfics, I've come up with a way to differentiate them:**

 **Tower of Gamer: T.o.G-Edward  
What goes around, comes around: Karma Edward  
East Blue Files: Prime Edward or just Edward  
Variables and it's eventual rewrite: Bount Edward  
Devil and Justice, + it's eventual rewrite: XV-Edward**

 **And I might as well list the names I'll be referencing the Edward's of the story ideas I _do_ want to write:**

 **the DxD fanfic I'm planning: Quincy Edward  
** **the Tales of Symphonia 2(although, I am considering to make a Xillia 1 version when I'll buy the Xillia 1+2 combo pack.) fanfic: God Arc Edward  
** **the Pokemon ReBurst fanfic: Burst-Edward  
** **A Boku no Hero Academia fanfic I'm planning: Tele-Edward  
** **A Fairy Tail fanfic I'm planning: Shikigami Edward  
** **The Douluo Dalu fanfic: DD-Edward, or whatever name I'll give his reborn self.**

 **EDIT: I feel like I should clear something up. I know that the "air" in the Tower is Shinsoo in gaseous state, but since it works exactly like air, I'm going to keep calling it air, until the story runs into real air.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith and Bolt, Hachi was designed by Lliono, my beta reader. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

Setting down a cup of tea, next to an exciting novel about a group of students imprisoned in an academy where the only way out is by successfully killing someone without getting caught, Hachi opens the book at the marked page, intent on continuing where she left off, interested about who killed the protagonist's childhood friend.

As she brings the tea cup up to her lips, she is interrupted by someone rapidly knocking on her door. She gives a frustrated sigh and opens the door to see who interrupted her, although she could already guess which idiot it was.

"What do you want Bolt?" she asks in a deadpan tone as she glares at the simpleton smiling at her with a megawatt smile. The idiot didn't seem to take anything seriously, and kept addressing her with the annoying nickname he made up.

"Yo Bee-8 **(1)** , have you seen Ed?" Bolt asks, oblivious to the spike of murderous intent from Hachi.

"I think I saw Edward heading towards the sparring arena with Androssi." Hachi answers, wanting to get back to her book. She had a suspicion that it was the occult bum.

"Thanks, bye!" Bolt says, starting to sprint towards the direction of the sparring arena. Hachi closes her door, returning to her book, a content smile on her face. Now the jock would be Edward's problem.

* * *

After a short sprint from the Regular's Dormitory, Bolt stops in front of the sparring arena's door. As he moves to open the door, someone else opens the door from the inside. And that someone is none other than Androssi, with an oddly happy and satisfied expression on her face as she exits the door with a spring in her step.

"Hey, umm... Ms. Androssi, do you know where Ed is?" Bolt asks, a little bit scared of the smile on the Zahard's Princess' face. That smile was something that you would find on the face of a cat that just finished a satisfying hunt.

"He's in there, cooling down from our _spar_." The way that Androssi said that, just sent shivers running up Bolt's spine as Androssi walks away, the clicking of her heels echoing throughout the hallway.

 _'That is one scary lady.'_ Bolt gulps, entering the arena, wondering what level of destruction he would find.

"..." Bolt is left speechless as he looks around the arena, or rather, what's left of it. Cracks and craters covering the surface of the ring and then there's Ed, lying against the wall, a web of cracks originating from his location.

Honestly, if he wasn't groaning in pain, or his chest wasn't rising and falling, Bolt would've thought that Aka-Oni **(2)** killed Ed.

"So...good spar eh?" Bolt awkwardly asks, attempting to lighten the mood, only for the hammer to start glaring daggers at him.

"You...could...say that." Edward answers with a ragged breath as he gets back up, using his hammer as crutch. At least something good came out of that beating, as his **[Physical Endurance]** started leveling up like crazy, reaching 20 at the end of the _"spar"_. On the other hand, his HP isn't looking so hot.

"Hey, you should go see a medic." Bolt says, looking at Edward's condition. The guy looked as if a gust of wind could knock him over right now, so he definitely wasn't in any condition to do anything except lay down and rest.

"Nah, I just need to get to a bed." Edward says, disregarding Bolt's worries.

 _ **=Actually, I think I have something that'll heal you.=**_ Edward's hammer speaks up. That hammer's still a complete mystery to Bolt. The damn thing seems to be alive, able to transform, and now it apparently can heal people! What's next, is it going to start vomiting high-grade Suspendium?

"Well, no harm in trying if it saves me the trip to bed." Edward shrugs, sitting down before grasping his hammer with both hands as both him and his hammer close their eyes. After a few minutes, Bolt raises his eyebrows in surprise as a blue aura covers Ed and his weapon, wind circling their feet. Bolt sees that Edward's wounds start slowly closing up, bruises disappearing and small cuts closing up.

But as Bolt keeps watching the spectacle in front of him, he can't help but feel a bit light-headed, as if the air is getting thinner.

"Hey Ed, is...it just me...or is the air...getting thinner?" Bolt barely manages to ask, collapsing onto the floor.

* * *

 **[15 Minutes later...]**

"Aaw yeah, that felt good." Edward sighs contently, opening his eyes as Haensing shrinks down to pocket-size. He notices something odd, mainly Bolt lying on the ground, breathing with some trouble.

"Oi, wake up, this isn't a place to sleep at." Edward nudges Bolt's body with his leg, only to get no response. Shrugging, Edward walks away from the unconscious Regular, and heads towards the gym.

 _ **=Some people just pick the weirdest places to sleep** **.**_ Haensing scoffs as Edward closes the door.

After a while, air starts re-entering Bolt's lungs, revitalizing the young man. He groggily gets up, holding his head in slight pain, feeling like he got run over with a truck.

"Ugh, wut hapened?" He slurs, drunkenly stumbling towards the door, only to pass out just short of reaching the handle.

* * *

 **[** **Evankhell's mothership,** **Gym...]**

"So, how _did_ you heal me?" Edward asks as he starts strapping weights to his body, intent on taking full advantage of the gym's Stat training boost. After a bit of examination, including a peek into his stats, he had found out the Haensing managed to change his meagerly 10 HP to a respectable 160.

 _ **=I just sucked the Shinsoo out of the air.=**_ Haensing answers, happy that he isn't getting shoved into _that place_ again. He had managed to convince **(read: beg)** Edward to not put him into the **[Inventory]** , as it would raise questions if he pulled him out of thin air, without Edward having an Arms Inventory.

"Oh, okay." The tone of voice which Haensing answered with was so calm and nonchalant that the context flew over Edward's head, but after processing what Haensing said, he reacted accordingly.

"Wait, you did WHAT!" Edward says, looking the Ignition Weapon in the eye, a nervous twitch in his own. He must've misheard what Haensing said, as what he said would be too good to be true.

 ** _=As I said, I sucked the Shinsoo from the atmosphere to heal your_ wounds.= ** Haensing repeats.

 ** _=Wasn't easy though, one small mistake and boom, all that Shinsoo blows up in our faces.=_** He explains further, as Edward's mind processes the new information. So, while Haensing can use the Shinsoo from the air to patch him up, it isn't something that would make him into this untouchable juggernaut that would keep getting back up time after time.

"Well, I suppose that explains why Bolt was unconscious." Edward mumbles, holding his chin in thought. While that ability could be used to knock people out, it should only be used when there wasn't any allies near him, as they could also die from asphyxiation. Heck, if Haensing absorbs too much Shinsoo, they could be responsible for an event similar to what Eurasia Blossom caused **(3)**.

Actually, now that he thinks about it, he should only use that feature of Haensing as a last resort, when all other methods fail.

 **[Through realizing the grave possibilities and responsibility of the power you, or more specifically, your weapon has, you gain +2 INT and +2 WIS!]**

"Hey Haensing, you do realize how dangerous that ability is, right?" Edward asks, getting onto the treadmill. Hiding his Irregular status would be useless if Haengsing started sucking people dry or suffocating them at his leisure.

 _ **=Yeah, yeah, I get the message.=**_ Haensing grumbles, getting what his wielder meant. If he started gulping down the Shinsoo in a crowded area, they'd get real high up on everyone's shit-list faster than you could blink.

"Good." Edward nods, starting up the treadmill.

* * *

 **[One training montage/session later...]**

 **[Running on the treadmill has increased your AGI by 8! The usage of weights has increased your STR and VIT by 8!]**

Getting off the treadmill, Edward starts taking off the weights, feeling like he's had enough training for today. So now his AGI should be 16, his STR should be 29 and VIT should be 24.

Now, what should he do? He definitely isn't going to even try to look for another sparring partner, And he doesn't feel like training any more for today.

...

Maybe he should try and socialize with some of the _"people of interest"_ , such as Koon, Ship, Hatsu, Laure and the others. After all, befriending them would get himself involved in the plot. And although it would no doubt be a path filled with dangers and hardships, it's one with events he can prepare for.

Besides, there's so many golden eggs in this batch of Regulars, so establishing a friendly relationship with them would only be beneficial.

"Now, where would they be?" Edward wonders, opening the Map function of his Pocket as he tries to figure out where the important people are. Laure's more than likely sleeping in his own room, no idea about where Ship could be, and Koon's probably keeping an eye on Baam, either that or bothering Rak.

"Hey Haensing, can you... I don't know...smell where Koon, Ship and Laure are?" Edward asks, unsure if his partner could track people by their Shinsoo. He just figured that Haensing could do that, since the Ignition weapon could apparently eat Shinsoo to heal his wielder.

 _ **=Huh, wha-No, no I can't smell their Shinsoo, since I don't know what their Shinsoo smells or tastes like.=**_ Haensing replies drowsily, before going back to his nap.

"Well, that was a bust. Might as well head to Baam's room, since Koon or Rak might be there." Edward sighs, pocketing Haensing before leaving the gym, deep in thought. No matter what Position he would end up in, he would have to eliminate one of the Regulars, if only so that the numbers would be even for the Hide and Seek test.

But he would have to make them look like accidents, so that rules out the Light Bearer, Wave Controller, and Spear Bearer courses, as those courses didn't show any tests that would allow Regulars to harm one another.

Scout's a maybe, as the Manhwa didn't show how Quant _"trained"_ the regulars. So, his best, and possibly his only option is also the most dangerous one: the Fisherman course, specifically the one where the regulars have to fight on pillars. All he would have to do is kill, or if he's able, injure one of them to an extent that they'll have to drop out.

Perhaps he should target the guy that Koon smuggled in, he seemed weak enough.

"Hey, got a minute?" Edward is snapped out of his thoughts by a girl speaking up behind him. Turning around to look at the speaker, he sees Hwa Ryun, wearing a pink hoodie with the E13 logo on it. This could prove to be either a disaster or a fruitful event he could use to secure his place in the graduating class. He would just have to watch what he says, as Hwa Ryun's loyalty is quite an enigma.

She helped or rather, _will_ help to deliver Baam to F.U.G, but she also helped in getting Baam out of F.U.G. The training that Baam got from the organization did make him stronger, and grant him the Thorn, so perhaps he should let it happen? He'd just have to ensure that Baam could be recovered.

Let the F.U.G buff the little chestnut up, and he would reap the rewards.

"Sure." he replies, allowing her to lead him to another part of the ship, which was surprisingly enough, a giant library with actual books lining the shelves. They take a seat at one of the tables meant for studying in the library.

* * *

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Edward asks, wondering what reason would she has to interact with him. To suggest an alliance perhaps? Or maybe she came to fish some information for the Coffee Addict? He highly doubted that they would have any info on him prior to his appearance on the 2nd Floor.

That might actually be a big factor in identifying Irregulars, but considering what little info the manhwa and the wiki gave on the Tower's middle area, there is a lot of people with no proper ID.

She stays quiet, as if contemplating whether she should pursue her line of thought or leave the mystery be.

Eventually, she speaks. "Who and what are you?" Edward is caught off-guard by the question, but looking at Hwa Ryun's face, he can't see anything that would hint at her joking. This wasn't an unexpected question, somebody was bound to ask something similar eventually.

"I'm Edward Smith, first name: Edward, last name: Smith, and as far as I know, I'm human." He cheekily replies, having a feeling of what she really meant by her question.

"That's not what I meant." she states bluntly, glaring at Edward with slight irritation.

"Okay, so I take it has something to do with your Guide abilities?" he asks, apparently hitting the nail on the head, as Hwa Ryun nods in confirmation.

"How do you know that?" Ryun asks. Although she hadn't really made any attempt at hiding her Red Witch heritage, she didn't expect anyone on the Floor of tests to know about her race.

"I know many things, Ms. Hwa. Including that you're here on orders from the F.U.G."Edward chuckles with a sinister smile on his face, feeling the control of the conversation start shifting to his favor as Hwa Ryun's cold, near-emotionless face takes on an expression oozing with alarm and caution for a brief moment.

"How do you know that?" She asks, managing to calm down. Yu Han Sung was in charge of this floor, at least until Evankhell came back, so he could make this guy _"disappear"_ and reveal how he knows of her orders.

"Simply put, I have a bit of skill in being a Guide. It's only one path though." Edward says, shrugging. Even though the F.U.G would know of his _"Guide"_ Abilities, they couldn't plan around him planning around their plan completely, as they don't know how far and wide into the future his knowledge stretches.

Hwa Ryun nods, part of the mystery plaguing her mind finally unraveled. That explains how the two Regulars managed to pass the test. Although Guides that weren't part of either the Red Witches or Silver Dwarfs weren't common, they still occasionally did pop up every now and then, before they were poached by the 10 Great families and other organizations, but it would seem like one slipped through the cracks.

Usually, one of their ancestors was either a Red Witch or a Silver Dwarf, although looking at the young man in front of her, he definitely doesn't have dwarf blood in his veins.

"How far do you see?" She asks, not really expecting him to answer. Most Guides that she met weren't comfortable with revealing the information the paths showed them, whether it be due to the information being too dangerous to reveal, or it being simply too embarrassing to tell with a straight face. Depending on the info that he knew, she might have to report him to Han Sung, but hopefully it doesn't come to that.

It's always sad to see a Guide outside of the Red Witches and Silver Dwarfs to be silenced before they can see the end of their paths.

"Eh, I only see this floor, and even then, when I'm just reaching the final tests of this floor, the information stops." Edward lies, not showing his full hand. Even if the damn Coffee Addict and the walking Riceball weren't on the same side, it didn't mean that the Coffee Addict wouldn't use the Riceball to hold him off before Rachel managed to get rid of Baam, so it's best to pretend that he doesn't know the endgame.

"That's quite sad for a Guide." Hwa Ryun notes solemnly. She had met a few Guides, from both her own clan, the dwarfs, and those outside of them, who could only see their near future, about 2-3 weeks ahead of the present, and she had pitied them slightly.

"Yeah, but it also makes it interesting, not knowing how a story will end." Hwa Ryun couldn't help but agree on that point. Being able to see the outcome of events made life... boring. Safe, but quite boring, nothing surprised her anymore.

"I suppose you have a point. But, I do have something else to ask of you." she says, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Edward. What else could she want to know? Perhaps she saw something about him, and wasn't sure of what it was?

"Go ahead." Edward answers, motioning for her to continue as he looks around the library. So much information about the Tower, all right here on the 2nd floor. Would anyone notice if one of the books would _"mysteriously disappear"_? He should probably start off by learning a book that has multiple copies of present, to test whether the people running the floor will notice.

"What are your intentions with that boy?" Hwa Ryun asks. All the paths that she saw Edward take involved Baam, Rachel and those children of Arie heritage, mainly focusing on the one with those hungry and evil eyes.

But no matter what, Edward's path always showed Rachel and the evil-eyed Arie boy as enemies to trample underfoot, sometimes showing Baam attacking Edward soon after, shouting at him for killing Rachel, and sometimes showing Edward get rid of Rachel when Baam wasn't around, claiming to Baam that there was an accident.

Edward stays silent for a few moments, before chuckling as if he heard a funny joke. "Nothing malevolent, I assure you." he answers. Which is true, he isn't going to be the one who'll hurt Baam. Well, hurt him and let the naive boy know that he was the culprit, that is.

"Your superiors won't have to worry about me ruining their plan of acquiring Baam." he finishes. It's what comes after they acquire the little chestnut that they would have to worry about, especially if he does decide to warn Koon about Apple's and Michael's statuses as F.U.G agents. Although that did carry the risk of altering the timeline, everything he did already caused small ripples in the timeline.

"Thank you." Hwa Ryun says, walking away from the table, having no doubt in her mind that Edward wasn't telling everything that he knew. But, she didn't feel like telling Han Sung about her suspicions. She actually wanted to see what he would do, but if it threatened to veer the events too much off-course, she'd intervene.

* * *

 _ **=Do you think she actually believed the BS you were selling her?=**_ Haensing asks from Edward's pocket, waking up in time to hear the end of their conversation.

"No way in hell, but I hope she doesn't think I'm big enough of a threat" Edward sighs, taking another look at the neatly organized books lining the shelves, his thoughts returning to that one stray thought he had during the conversation.

If the people running the library didn't notice any of the books missing, he might make an occasional visit to the library and absorb a book, and come again some other day to absorb a more valuable book. He would absorb a miscellaneous book with a useful non-combat skill occasionally, as to not form a pattern with the rarity and information of the books.

If they did notice however, then he would simply learn the best books here just before the final test, hopefully out of their jurisdiction once he enters the next floor, and from there on out, he'll rinse and repeat the process.

"Well, I guess taking a look at what this library has to offer wouldn't be a bad idea." Edward notes to himself, glancing over the different titles, which are thankfully in English, or _"Macsethian"_ as the locals call it. After a while of skimming over the books, he sees a few books that might be worth taking a look at, such as a guidebook about the weapons of the Tower, a sewing and crafting handbook, and a book about poisons, that might come in handy, especially if it has the recipes for the antidotes.

But now might be an appropriate time to head to the mess hall, as his stomach is grumbling, and it wouldn't hurt to check if the food is free before the training period starts. That food that was shown in the manhwa didn't look half-bad.

As he walks towards the mess hall, guided by his Pocket, Edward can't help but notice the changes that the **[Gamer's Mind]** skill has made to his mind. Although, depending on who you ask, they're improvements. He feels more...calm when talking or thinking about things like fooling people, and using them as mere chess pieces in his plans. Before all this, such a though would've out somewhat of a strain on his moral fiber, but now he didn't feel anything about it, no guilt, no happiness, just nothing.

Although to be fair, if all, or at least most of the things went according to plan, most of the people would walk way happy. Hopefully Murphy's Law won't rear it's ugly head.

And even killing someone doesn't weigh down on his mind, the whole event feeling like nothing more than a regular, everyday event. Sure, people might threaten others online, especially if they're playing a game that gets their blood pumping, but actually considering the different methods of execution and body disposal, such as having Haensing eat the cadaver, or attempting to shove it into the **[Inventory]** causing no burden on his conscience, or what's left of it at this rate.

Hell, even the fact that he _died_ once already doesn't stick out that much in his mind, when really, it should have caused at the very, _very_ least a severe case of anxiety or some sort of mental problems truly spoke measures of how much the **[Gamer's Mind]** truly affected his mind. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, as everyone else is the Tower is, or will be quite comfortable with the concept of killing.

"When in Rome, as they say." he whispers to himself, walking past the mess hall door, once he spots a "closed" sign hanging from the handles.

 _ **=You say something, partner?=**_ Haensing asks.

"It's nothing. I should probably head to my room to grind the ID's before going to sleep." Edward answers, changing direction to his room.

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks! I hope that you'll leave a review. The original idea for the chapter would've had Edward go straight to Baam's room, where he would've found Koon and started chatting with him, but then I read the newest T.O.G Chapter and I decided to make the scene with Hwa Ryun happen. Hwa Ryun has always struck me as someone who has her own plans, and with her future-seeing power as a Guide, she always knows more than everybody else in the room.**

 **1: Bolt's little nickname for Hachi, since her name means both Bee and number 8.**

 **2: Bolt's new nickname for Androssi, due to A: Her viciousness in battle, and B: The Oni in media usually come in two varieties, red ones with two horns protruding from the edges of their forehead, near the hairline, and blue ones with only one horn, protruding from the centre of their forehead**

 **3: Eurasia Blossom, the head of the Eurasia family, and one of Zahard's 10 warriors, once proved that by accelerating Shinsoo in an area, she could kill 99% of the population living there. And she's also the birth mother of Eurasia Enne Zahard, the Princess who allegedly went berserk.**

 **Kyros: Yes, ageing is slowed down by the huge concentrations of Shinsoo, in the Tower, but being able the level of manipulating Shinsoo does allow a person to change how old they look.**

 **And the "Immortality", which I did explain in the previous chapter, is the reward for passing the 100th Floor _Guardian's_ test, not the Administrator's, but the Guardian's, like that eel thing back on 2nd Floor, or the being that Enryu _killed_ , the closest thing to gods in the Tower of God universe.**

 **And only Irregulars can take the Guardian's test, but their teammates don't need to be Irregulars, so they can become "Immortal" as well, they just need to take the Guardian's test instead of the normal test.**

 **No Question for this chapter, as I can't think of anything, and you guys don't seem enthusiastic about answering them.**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I'm back folks! I was sick for a while, vomiting, and I also had a bit of a fever, but I'm good now. Alas, I _do_ have some rather... sad news. I'm not sure if I'll be able to write A.g.a.P to a long extent, as the One Piece Manga is so god-damn _long_. Now, I don't think I'll be covering the Impel Down or the timeskip sections when the Strawhats separated from each other, so that might help, but I'm not optimistic.  
**

 **If nothing else, I'll finish East Blue Files, and if I do decide to call it quits, I'll post a synopsis chapter that will tell what I had planned for the story.**

 **Anyways, with some new information revealed in the newest chapter of Tower of God, this story is officially AU, at least in regards to Baam's ability to learn skills.**

 **And in other news, I checked and this story is the 3rd most favorited ManHwa fanfic on this site, so thank you so much, I _literally_ couldn't have gotten here without you guys.**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith and Bolt, Hachi was designed by Lliono, my beta reader. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

All the Regulars, and Edward, had gathered back to the yellow room where they were told about the Crown Game. The 3-day break was over, so now it was time for their Positions to be announced. But, none of the Regulars knew that, save for those from the 10 Great families and those who had family members that reached the 20th floor and gave up on climbing the Tower.

"Long time no see, Regulars!" Lero Ro greeted the assembled Regulars cheerily, only to get nothing but silence in return. Which wasn't that surprising if you considered that Lero Ro was the who told them to partner up with people they were supposed to kill only a while ago. So it was understandable why they didn't want to be all buddy-buddy with him.

"Very well, I hope that you all work hard on the test that begins today, the 'Positioning Test'." Lero Ro said, catching the people who didn't know about Positions off-guard.

"Well, I hope that you're ready to lose." Edward whispered, teasing Androssi, who simply smirked at him.

"I'd say the same to you." she replied back cockily. Edward simply smiled back in a care-free, yet confident manner, knowing that this little bet of theirs is already in the bag. It would do the little princess good to have her ego deflated a bit before she tries to bite off more than she could chew.

"What're you two talking about?" Bolt asked, confused as to what Ed and _"Aka-Oni"_ were talking about, as the yellow guy hadn't said anything about a combat or competitive test.

"Well, Androssi and I have a little bet regarding the position test." Edward answered quickly, as he noticed that Lero Ro was starting his explanation of the Positions. Even though he already knew the gist of it, it wouldn't hurt to listen and see if there was something that the manhwa left out.

" **'The Fisherman'** , who disarms the enemy by using their Reel Inventory, thus they are always at the heart of the battle facing the enemy head-on, keeping the enemy occupied so that the Fisherman's teammates can either complete the team's objective or provide back-up. The Fishermen can also carry out individual activities." Lero Ro explained, as his Lighthouse projected the image of an female Fisherman using her Reel Inventory and Hook to fight.

A rather astute explanation of the Position, and more importantly different from the one in the manhwa. It wasn't drastically different, but different none the less, so Edward keeps listening.

" **'Spear-bearer'** , who utilizes spears to target enemies from afar, picking off enemies who are either running from the battle, or ones who managed to avoid the Fisherman's initial attack." Lero Ro narrated as his Lighthouse projected an image of a muscular man triumphantly holding up a spear piercing three winged fishes the size of a jeep.

A rather simple job, just throw far, throw with accuracy and don't hit your teammates.

But, this position also put a lot of responsibility and trust onto those who were put into this position, so choosing a cowardly person who would turn tail and run at the first opportunity would prove catastrophic, if not fatal.

"ACHOO!" a green humanoid sneezed violently, his lanky frame covered by a brown robe and a white shirt.

" **'Light-bearer'** , a position that works quite well with Spear-bearers and Scouts, collecting information that helps a Spear-bearer aim, and generally keeps the whole team informed of the surrounding area." And once again, a crucial position, where you couldn't pick an untrustworthy or moronic individual to act as the nerve center of your team.

A bad Light-bearer could leave even the toughest of warriors helpless in the battlefield, as no matter how tough the warriors might be as individuals, in a team, communication is the key to success.

" **'Scout'** , the proverbial eyes of the Light-bearer on the field, scouting ahead for him or her with their Observers and eyes, fighting alongside the Fisherman on the front lines." Now Lero Ro's lighthouse is showing a video of a scout running around a labyrinth, three basic Observers, reminiscent of eyeballs broadcasting live footage to the Lighthouse.

"And finally, the **'Wave Controller'** , who can use Shinsoo to either overwhelm the opposition or help their teammates." the last image showing a person holding his hands up in the air as a blue energy dome surrounds him and his team as spears fly towards them.

"Naturally, there are more positions than these 5, such as the Guide, but since these don't concern most of you, and these are the ones you'll be categorized into." Lero Ro said, taking a brief glance at Edward, before expanding his Lighthouse so that all the names will fit properly.

"Ever since you appeared on the second floor, we have been evaluating your performance and picking your positions based on the results of the previous tests." Lero Ro gestured to his enlarged Lighthouse, which now had all of the regulars who managed to get this far split and categorized under one of the five basic Positions.

Edward didn't bother checking the positions of all the extras, as he honestly didn't remember which one of the extra regulars went to what position. But he did remember the positions of the important and interesting people, so he focused on spotting them, ignoring everything else.

 **Fisherman**

 **\- Edward Smith: Best Seed  
\- Anak Zahard: Best Seed  
\- Androssi Zahard  
\- Chunhwa Hong  
...**

 **Spear-bearer**

 **\- Hachi: Best Seed  
\- ****Akryung  
\- Rak Wrathraiser  
\- Aleksai Amigochaz  
...**

 **Light-bearer**

 **\- Koon Aguero Agnis: Best Seed  
\- Michelle Light**(AN: I know it's Rachel, but she entered with the fake name.) **: Best Seed  
...**

 **Scout**

 **\- Ship Leesoo: Best Seed  
\- Hatsu  
\- Bolt  
\- Serena Rinnen  
...**

 **Wave Controller**

 **\- Eurasia Phonsekal Laure  
\- Hwa Ryun  
\- Ho  
\- Twenty-fifth Baam  
...**

"Well, Androssi, it looks like I win our little bet." Edward noted cheekily, feeling rather conflicted of his "Best Seed" status among the Fishermen candidates. On one hand, it would up his chances of getting to the final test, but on the other hand, it could cause either one of the Zahards to be unable to pass to the last test.

And he couldn't see anything useful about Hachi's "Best Seed" status, aside from possibly dropping Parakewl from the graduating class.

 **[Class: "Fisherman" Unlocked ! +2 to AGI, DEX and STR on level up]**

 **[Title: "Best Seed" acquired!]  
You have been selected as a "Best Seed", and with that, comes a few perks.  
{All EXP and Stat gains are doubled until the end of the Positioning test.}  
This title will disappear as soon as you pass the Second Floor**

 _'Well, holy shit.'_ Edward thought to himself as he read the info about his Class and Title. So, each level up from now on would give him 2 points to AGI, DEX and STR, and during his time on the second floor, he'd be getting double the gains, so that means that each level up for the test would grant him 4 extra points to the aforementioned stats.

Now that he thought about it, it sorta made sense that being a fisherman would enhance those stats, as Fishermen had to fight on the frontlines, so speed was necessary to be able to move quickly, and the increased dexterity would help with handling weapons and dodging, and the pros of enhanced strength were quite obvious.

He almost drooled at the thought of combining the stat boost from the title with Gym's boost.

* * *

 _'So, I'll be in the same training course as that boy.'_ Laure mused, looking at Baam's name. He felt a tad bit curious about how he managed to control Shinsoo in that manner. Well, saying that he _controlled_ the Shinsoo might be an incorrect definition, as the Shinsoo seemed to naturally react to the boy's anger and fear.

Too bad that the other one wasn't assigned to their Position, not that Laure envied his situation, stuck with two of Zahard's princesses.

 _'How come I'm not a Fisherman!?'_ Rak thought as he glares at his name on the Lighthouse. How dared these turtles put him away from a chance of facing worthy prey face to face!

"Sir, what does the 'Best Seed' next to some of the names mean?" Dédé asked, noticing the titles next to the names of six Regulars.

"Best Seed? People with the title "Best Seed" are those who either did well in the tests, or performed the duties of their Position well. And those who got the title are granted extra points." Lero Ro explained, causing some of the Regulars to give rather volatile responses as the explanation sank into their heads.

"W...WHAT!?" Dédé exclaimed as the information sunk in. "Why didn't you tell us about that before!" he shouted, annoyed that they weren't told about the chance of getting extra points.

 _'Obviously so that the Regulars won't stop focusing on completing the tests.'_ Edward thought to himself, as he pondered on Dédé's question. If the regulars were told that there was a chance of getting extra points in what would be most likely _the_ most crucial test they would have on the first Floor, then obviously they would try and sabotage one another.

But to add onto that, Points also seemed to be a form of currency in the Floors, if Edward's memory served him correctly, so of course some, if not all Regulars would start focusing on sabotaging other Regulars during these 3 first tests, which would then make categorizing and ranking the Regulars correctly that much harder.

"I don't understand why _he_ got that!" Serena shouted, pointing at Ship, who's just as confused as she was.

"Yeah, why me? Did I offer a bribe or something?" Ship whispered the last part to himself.

"You were chosen, why're you questioning it?" Koon shouted, feeling flabbergasted by Ship's question. He couldn't help but agree with the decision on who got the "Best Seed" for the most part, but the ones he disagreed with probably got the title by doing well on the less physically challenging tests.

"Haha, the "Best Seed" tag is given after a fair and thorough evaluation." Lero Ro laughed, before his demeanor changed to a more threatening one as he levels a harsh glare on the uppity Regulars, "I've got a lot to do, so stop asking idiotic questions, Ok?" which shut them up good.

Nothing like a little bit of malicious intent to silence rowdy Regulars.

"Hey Mr. Ro, how are the injured Regulars going to take the test?" Koon asked, mostly to know whether or not Baam would make it to take the test. He had cashed in a favor that could've been useful later, so he doesn't want to find out that it was all for naught.

And the way he got Shinsoo to bend to his will would more than make up for the favor.

"They will participate when they are more or less healed. But the teachers keep attendance score, so it's a disadvantage if you miss class." Lero Ro answered, letting everyone know the consequences of being reckless during this test.

"I think that's unfair, as the injured will obviously miss some of the lessons." Koon noted.

"Naturally, but it is _his_ own fault for getting injured. It's obvious that people should pay for their mistakes, isn't it?" Lero Ro shrugged, knowing exactly who Koon is referring to when he said " _injured_ ".

"Well, that's it for today. The position teachers will the detailed schedule later, so please follow the directions loaded to your Pockets and go where the your position teachers are." Lero ro continued, not letting Koon interrupt him. Edward, along with many other Regulars heard their Pockets beeb, which meant that they had received the directions.

"Oh, and for those of you assigned to Wave Controller, your teacher has a bit of a problem, so he'll be starting class 3 days late." Lero Ro added, deciding to throw the Koon kid a bone. And to be honest, he himself was also glad that young Baam would be able to participate in the test properly.

* * *

 **[Second Floor, Fisherman Classroom]**

"Hi everybody, I'm Hax, and I'm the one who's in charge of making you into splendid Fishermen!" A woman, wearing a light blue blouse top over a white-striped pink dress announced. And although her face was covered by a silver tinted mask that set her long dark hair in twin pigtails, her voice was more than enough to tell that she was excited and pumped for the lesson.

Whether or not that was a good thing for any of the Regulars was unclear, as Edward remembered that she put the fishermen candidates to a dangerous test that risked failing those who fell from pillars.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Ranker\  
Hax LV: ?  
** ** **/Speed\  
** |Fisherman|**

 **HP: ?  
MP:** **?**

The regulars stared at the oddly cheery Ranker, wondering what sort of a nutjob was assigned to be their teacher, while Edward, Anak and Androssi just looked at her with expressions of anxiety, disinterest and boredom respectively.

"Anyway, first things first, we'll be forming a contract with the Floor's Guardian." Hax stated, causing varying degrees of confusion among the Regulars, those who don't know anything about the Tower wondering what she means by making a contract, while those with some knowledge are wondering why would the Fisherman class need to form a contract with the Floor Guardian.

"U-Um, Ma'am, why do we need to form a contract with the guardian?" One of the Regulars asked, whom Edward recognized as the weakling with silver hair that Androssi beat up during the B-Team's test, although he considers calling that bunch the _B-Trayal_ team.

"You really have to ask that?" Edward remarked, only for the silverette to turn to him with a questioning look.

"Oh what, you know why we need to form a contract, then by all means, enlighten us." he said with a mocking tone, expecting Edward to have no answer and shut up.

Thinking that he might as well try to earn a few extra points early on while at the same time showing off in a rather harmless manner, Edward retorted "You know what, I think I will.", turning to Hax, who's looking at the scene in silence, her mask hiding any emotional response.

"Miss Hax, you mind if I explain why all Positions need to make a contract with the Guardians?" he asked politely, not wanting to incur the wrath of the Ranker. He knew that the most he could do in a fight against her was stain her clothes with his own blood while she proceeded to beat him to death with his own skull, regardless of the physical paradoxes and impossibilities of that happening.

"By all means." She said, smiling under her mask. She had read the file Lero Ro had compiled about Edward, and although she was a bit miffed that she couldn't that Koon cutie as her student, she was quite satisfied with the specimen she got. Sure, he wasn't exactly a poster-boy, but he wasn't ugly either.

And most importantly, from what the previous tests showed, he was either a guide, very smart or both. Managing to figure out the meaning of the Director's test in practically no time was quite impressive, but then again, that test could've been solved even by a complete idiot who didn't stop to consider the consequences of their actions.

* * *

 **[In another world...]**

"Achoo!" a bald man with a blue arrow tattoo sneezed as he sat next to his pregnant wife with dark skin.

"Bless you." The woman said as they watch the sunset, wondering what to name their child.

* * *

 **[Back in the Tower...]**

But he also made a point to make acquaintances out of the other Regulars who would no doubt go far when they passed this floor, including two princesses of Zahard, showing that he wasn't arrogant enough to rely on his own power.

 _'I'm going to have some fun with this one.'_ Hax thought to herself, licking her lips under her mask. She would enjoy bringing this one down to his knees.

"Thank you." Edward felt a cold shiver run through his spine, but ignored it as he moved in front of the class to begin his explanation. He should probably keep his info to basics, avoiding the touchy information, such as the prize awaits for those capable of taking a Guardian's test at Floor 100.

"Shinsoo is, simply put the energy around us, and as Mr. Ro explained during his _"presentation"_ ," Some of the Regulars winced at the memory. "it can help one to accomplish many things and to attain many abilities, including the ability to produce flames from one's body and control it, using it for propulsion or simply to burn their enemies to ashes." To make a point, Edward started a continuous chain of explosions from his hand, emulating a fire.

Hax furrowed her brow as she saw Edward use his ability, recognizing that while it wasn't a Hwayeomsa skill, it was close to one.

"But it can also serve to enhance ones physical strength and endurance." At the mention of that the Regulars started paying more attention."For example, a feet tall man with let's say 1 unit, or _Bang_ of Shinsoo could take on a 3 feet tall body-builder in arm-wrestling and win. I won't bore you with the details about Bangs." Some of the Regulars shot Edward a skeptical look, struggling to believe that a midget could take on a giant and win, while Hax smiled underneath her mask.

"But, even though Shinsoo can be a useful commodity, it can also be used for hellish things." Edward continued, his tone taking a grimmer turn. "For example, some people can use it to control parasites that completely take over the host body." he explained, remembering the green blob from the Floor 20 test. The Regulars blanched at the description of the parasite.

"But thankfully, all you need to is make the host body vomit, then pull it out the parasite and burn it." Edward contemplated whether or not to mention the dreaded Bloodmadder family curse as a rumor, but decided against talking about it in front of a Ranker. Especially a Ranker that can and probably will set up an exam where he can _"disappear"_ for good.

"Anyway, that's a basic explanation of Shinsoo, but I hope that you can see the benefits of making a contract with the Guardians." Edward shrugged, walking back to his seat.

"Good job Eddie! If this were the Wave Controller class, you would've earned lots of points! Sadly, this is the Fisherman class, but A+ for effort." Hax gave Edward a thumbs-up, making a note to tell the director about this after the lesson is done.

She had expected the kid to be fishing for extra points, but that explanation was a pretty good one, and she could see that some of the Regulars who were clearly confused about making a contract were now excited at the prospect of getting super-human abilities.

Maybe the director and little Ro-Ro made a mistake when they assigned the guy to the Fisherman position. But she could also see that Edward knew more than what he told. He clearly knew about the Mule family, if his example of a Shinsoo-using midget was anything to go by, but that could've also been a coincidence. She hadn't expected him to know about the parasitic sludge Shinheuh that some weaker Animas with a less than stellar reputation used.

* * *

"Heh, it looks like teacher didn't give her pet any treats." Androssi sniped at Edward as he reclaimed his seat.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to settle for the extra points that _"Best Seed"_ students get." he shot back, noticing that Androssi frowned at the retort, feeling her pride wounded at not getting the title while him and Anak did.

The corners of Anak's lips turned up at Edward's retort, glad to see one of her _"aunts"_ **(1)** get frustrated.

"Laugh while you can, I'll catch up to you and that faker in no time." She cockily stated. There was no way that a genuine Princess of Zahard would be second or third-best to a common Regular and a fake princess, even if they had two of the Thirteen month series and a sentient Ignition Weapon.

Edward simply gave a lopsided grin as Hax started instructing how to make a Contract. Obviously, the two princesses didn't need to make one, thanks to their heritage **(2)**.

"Pocket: Visible mode, **On**." Edward said, causing his Pocket to appear. He might as well get this done, although he already has Shinsoo, it'll be for the best that he go and pay respect to the Physical Gods in this Tower that can technically choke with a mere thought. Plus, it'll be a chance to fish for some information.

"Form Contract with the Guardian." he said, as his vision blurring to black.

* * *

 **[Unknown]**

 _'Wow, this is way creepier in first-person perspective.'_ Edward thought to himself as the gargantuan Guardian of the second Floor stared at him with those big grey eyes as they both floated in a black void with no obvious source of light. It's like the serpentine Guardian was staring right into his soul.

Edward cleared his throat before he spoke. "I take it that you're the Guardian of this Floor?" he asked with a nervous face, hoping that the gigantic being won't decide to crush or eat him on the spot. Even if he couldn't see the Guardian's stats, he had no delusions of being able to take on the being, especially with the amount of power that merely emanated from the being.

 _ **"I am."**_ The Guardian nodded as it stared at the small Irregular in front of it. _It_ was somewhat surprised by the Irregular's behavior, as most of the Regulars and a few of the Irregulars that came to _It_ immediately demand to make a contract with _It_.

"Well, my name is Edward Smith, if I may ask, what is yours, as I doubt that it's merely the guardian?" Edward asked, deciding to start off with something that he doubted anyone who had come before the Guardian had asked before, it's name. And his assumption was correct as the Guardian blinked at the question, confused that a person climbing the Tower would ask any of them their names instead of their permission to use Shinsoo.

 _ **"You're an odd one, aren't you?"** _ The Guardian gave a hearty chuckle _ **"Very well Irregular, my name is Levia."**_ The now-named Levia introduced itself with a short bow, to which Edward bowed back in kind.

"Well, Levia-nim, let's get down to business, if you don't mind." Edward said, catching Levia off-guard. It saw that Edward knew that he was an Irregular, so why would he be so quick to make a contract with them?

 _ **"You do realize that the contract will shackle your ability to kill Zahard?"**_ Levia asked, wanting to see if he knew about the side-effect that the contract put on Irregulars. Sure, most of the Irregulars that had climbed this Tower didn't seem to care about slaying Zahard, and those who could potentially want to do so were a special case or sealed away.

"Yeah, about that, I want to make an...little _"loophole"_ to it," Edward said, catching Levia once again, off-guard. "nothing that I can abuse whenever I want, just something that'll even the odds." Edward explained, sweating profusely, as he noticed the look of suspicion Levia was giving him.

 _ **"What kind of a**_ **"loophole" _are you talking about?_** _ **"**_ Levia asked, deciding to hear put the Irregular's proposition. _It_ hadn't faced a situation where a Irregular or a Regular would attempt to negotiate about the Shinsoo contract. Most merely took the deal that was offered and then excused themselves.

"Well, simply put, I won't be able to kill Zahard, unless he attacks me first. And if I were to strike at him first, I wouldn't be able to kill him." Levia contemplated the loophole that the Irregular was suggesting. It wouldn't violate the rules of the Tower, and the Irregular didn't seem to carry any hatred for Zahard, so this loophole seemed reasonable enough.

 _ **"The terms of this clause are... acceptable."**_ Levia nodded, accepting the suggestion, and Edward released the breath he had been holding for quite some time. He had honestly been afraid that Levia would've been outraged by his suggestion. Thankfully, the Guardian had accepted it, seemingly not realizing the loophole within the loophole.

"Thank you for your time, Levia-nim, and I hope you have a good day." Edward bowed as the black void faded away in a school of white fishes.

* * *

 **[Inner Tower, Evankhell's mothership]**

As the world faded back to normal, Edward saw that all the Regulars had apparently finished their contracts. The only ones who are still around were Androssi and Anak, and both of them were as far away from each other as possible while maintaining a glaring contest. Edward proceeded to ignore them while he read the windows that appeared in front of him.

 **[Shinsoo contract with [Levia] has been formed!]**

 **[Making changes to Stats, please wait...]**

Edward furrowed his brow when he spots the second window. What kind of changes would be implemented? Would his stats be cut in half until the restraints caused by the contract would be broken?

 **[Myun Points [MP] have been reconfigured to Mana Points[MP] and Bang Points[BP]!]**

Oh, so that kind, Edward nodded in understanding as he realized what this meant. Up until this point, he had apparently been using a mixture of Shinsoo and Mana. Now this might not seem like that big of a deal, but to Edward, it was quite surprising, as that meant that Shinsoo could be combined with Magic!

Edward was broken out of his thoughts when a hand is laid on his shoulder. "Well, look who finally finished making their contract, _slowpoke~_." Androssi said with a teasing tone as she practically sang the last word, looking at Edward with a look of superiority.

"Yeah, well I felt like chatting with the Guardian." he shot back, intending to keep the contents of his chat to himself. Despite Androssi's apparent wild-child tendencies, Edward wasn't going to risk getting a special talk with Zahard's special forces.

Both Anak and Androssi looked at Edward owlishly, as if he had grown a second head or whatever the Tower's equivalent of that was. Edward actually regretted not having a camera to immortalize the looks on their faces, since as far as he remembered, neither of them would make such a face ever again.

"What?" They both asked, wanting to make sure that they had heard Edward properly, because it sounded like he said that he made small talk with one of the beings that were the closest thing to a god. Admittedly, a low-level god, but a god none the less.

"As I said, I talked with the Guardian, since I was interested in what he or it knew." Edward clarified, his thoughts momentarily straying to whether or not Guardians even had a gender, since they haven't exactly been mentioned to reproduce. Or really even shown, aside from Headon and Levia.

"You know what, it's probably better if I don't ask." Androssi sighed, deciding to just accept that Edward would be insane enough to actually talk with a Guardian beyond making a contract. There had been cases where Regulars were stuck in a coma after taking too long making a contract with a Guardian, so it became standard procedure to just ask for their permission as soon as you got there, and leave.

"Yeah, probably the best idea." Edward nods. "So, did teach say anything?" he asksed, noticing the absence of said teacher.

"She told us to keep an eye on you." Anak answered, walking towards the door, now that she knew that Edward was awake. Since he was the only one who Black March even talked to, she would need to keep him around to negotiate with the Ignition weapon.

"Yeah, and she said that the schedules have been uploaded to our Pockets. See ya." Androssi waved, leaving as well now that she was sure that she would have a chance to show that she wasn't a third rate Fisherman. She didn't want to earn her place by some freak accident, at least not one that she didn't have a hand in causing.

Edward nods, deciding to head to his own room as well, but unlike the other two, he had some skills to craft.

All he could hope for was that **[Gamer's body]** and **[Gamer's mind]** nulled any side-effects of sleep deprivation. Otherwise, tomorrow would be a bitch to deal with.

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks! I hope you liked the chapter. Now, some of you might be a bit confused/angry as to why I have decided to split Shinsoo and Mana, well, that's because they are two different things. Mana _is_ magic, and Tower of God has shown that Magic and Shinsoo are two different things, just look at Hoaqin/White.**

 **And yes, I had Edward negotiate with the second Floor Guardian, and some of you might be saying that Levia accepted the deal way too easily. Well, all I have to say is, what makes you think that Levia didn't tell Edward something about their little deal?**

 **Also, for those of you who have read the announcement about the rewrite of my GX story, the votes are in! So, I'm going with a S-I, and a original archetype, which I've been designing for a while now. And all I'm going to reveal to you fine folks is that I'll be putting some Fusion Dimension characters introduced in Arc-V, as the fusion dimension _is_ GX without Yugi and Jaden.**

 **Numbered explanations:**

 **1: Technically speaking, all Princesses of Zahard are "sisters" as they're Zahards adopted daughters, and his power/blood is running through their veins.**

 **2: The 10 Great Families have "family" contract with the guardians, so anyone who's born into them, automatically gets access to Shinsoo.**

 **Current Stats for Edward.**

 **/Irregular\  
Edward Smith LV: 19  
** ** **/Power\**  
**

 **Exp: 350/1900**

 **HP: 450  
Mana/MP: 110  
BP: 148**

 **STR: 29** ** **{+210}  
** INT: 29  
VIT: 24** ** ** **{+160}  
**** WIS: 30  
DEX: 20  
AGI: 16{+30}**

 **Points: 39**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:  
** **High Shinsoo Resistance LV1:** **the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-62.3% from MP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with High or lower lower amounts of Shinsoo.}**

 **Guest reviews answered:**

 **Overlord Susanoo(13.5.2016):** Yeah, Androssi is a bit mean, but she'll mellow out...eventually. And no, Edward won't be stealing Deidara's catchphrase, but he might/probably will use it in the future. And I'm honestly not sure about Hachi and Bolt, but I think I can come up with something.

 **Guest(9.5.2016):** Thanks, I hope you'll like this chapter as well!

* * *

 **And here's the Question of the chapter:**  
I've read all of the God of Highschool chapters that are out so far, and I wanted to ask you guys 2 things:

Question #1, what do you think would be my Charyeok/Borrowed Power?

Question #2, what would yours be?

 **And for those of you who haven't read the story, here's an explanation about Charyeok: It's a power that you borrow from either a God, like Thor, a demon, like Asura, a magical animal/creature, like a phoenix, or from the ghost of a famous human, like Jack the Ripper. The charyeok also usually work well with the borrowers personality.**

 **This Borrowed power usually manifests in one of two distinct ways:**

 **Weapon Reinforcement, which simply increases the capabilities of your weapon.**

 **and Summoning, which causes the Charyeok as a distinct entity or object which the user can control. These entities/objects can also be 'equipped' to the user, altering their appearance and increasing their natural skills. These Charyeok may be invisible to all but the user, unless they choose to reveal it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: I'm back folks! And WOW, you guys really liked D.D.D: Rising Goetia, I'm so glad. But, I do have to address something from the previous chapter, the bargaining that Edward did with Levia/1st Floor Guardian.**

 **A certain reviewer, not dropping any names here, was displeased with Edward, an Irregular making a contract with the Guardian, saying that as an Irregular, the contract wouldn't affect an Irregular's ability to kill Zahard.**

 **Well, as I stated in my response, the Guardian did in fact refer to the contract as a shackle, saying that it wasn't Baam's power, which leads me to believe that Irregulars who have made the contract are incapable of killing Zahard, or in Gamer terms, dropping his HP to 0, causing it to stay at 1 no matter what.**

 **And yes, the contract can more than likely be broken, as Regulars have to make a new contract on each Floor, but to me, it seems like without the contract, using Shinsoo will be much harder, thus making it harder to kill Zahard.**

 **Anyway, glad to be back on this story. While I was away, I read a couple of Manhwas, Manhuas and Webtoons, and let's just say that I'm positively bubbling with story ideas. But that's for another day, onto the story!**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith and Bolt, Hachi was designed by Lliono, my beta reader. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

Entering his room, Edward locked the door, and went into the bathroom, hoping that there wasn't any surveillance equipment there. But, just to make sure, he inspected the room for any hidden mics or cameras, just in case.

He _really_ didn't want to get put into an interrogation room with Yu Han Sung. The F.U.G cover agent _would_ beat him with nothing more than his pinky before shipping him off to the F.U.G.

And while the skills would be more than welcome, it would simply cause too big of a butterfly effect.

" **[ID Create: Void]** " he said, sighing in relief at not finding any surveillance equipment in the room. He disappeared from the world, shimmering away like a mirage.

* * *

 **[Outer Tower: Zahard's 5th Floating Castle...]**

With her Opera, Jaina Repellista Zahard had seen numerous things. Nations being built for centuries, only to be destroyed in either a blink of an eye or in decades, tender moments of passion, the most epic bout of rock-paper-scissors between a child and an artist, atrocities committed by the 10 Families. Hell, if she wanted to, she could bring up information about the 10 strongest people in the Tower, bring up Ignition weapon schematics whenever she damn well pleased, and no Ranker, Family Head or Irregular could ever hope to trace it back to her!

Simply put, NOTHING could escape the all-seeing eyes of her Opera... Or, that should be the case.

And yet, here she was, pulling at her hair as her Opera's screen merely showing the inside of a bathroom, claiming that the Hammer-boy was there. And no matter which filter the image was viewed through, he still remained elusive. X-Ray? Nada. Heat tracking? Zilch. Shinsoo detection? Aside from the amount necessary to breath, nothing of the boy was found.

"WHAT THE HELL!" she screamed in frustration. Even if he was dead, her Opera should show his remains, no matter how minuscule they may be. And no invisibility technique could fool her Opera.

"Hmm... " she hummed angrily, racking her brain for an explanation. Maybe it's another part of that game power he has. _'Okay, what game function could make him disappear all of a sudden? Quick Travel?'_ A quick sweep with her Opera showed that wasn't the case. And she doubted it was anything like entering a title screen, as that would be broken as all hell, along with a Save function.

"Wow, so cool! He has access to Raid Dungeons, like the ones in Pockie Pirate!" Jaina squealed as she figured out the conundrum, looking at the displayed image with rapt attention, but pouted soon after, as she realized the implications.

"But that means that I'm missing out on something cool." Maybe next time one of her sisters came asking for info she'd ask them to bring him to her? But she also wanted a baby Zygaena...

* * *

 **[Edward's Void ID...]**

"Okay, let's do this." Edward muses, looking around the ID, which was, despite being called a Void Instant Dungeon, more of a barren wasteland, with boulders littering the area. All in all, it was a perfect location to test out and create new skills with destructive results.

 **[ID Create has levelled up! The following Instant Dungeons are accessible:]**

 **\- Empty ID**  
 **\- Void ID**  
 **\- Zombie ID**  
 **\- Ghost ID**  
 **\- Baby Shinheuh ID**

"Huh, interesting." he mused, scratching his chin in thought. So now he could start fighting infantile Shinheuh, and possibly harvest them for materials. Too bad he didn't have any skill in crafting. But at least he could sell any materials that dropped, and if he really wanted to learn crafting, he could go and visit the library and see if there was a Skill Book for that.

Who knows, maybe he'd eventually unlock a Zygaena dungeon. Definitely a good way to rake in some cash, although he might want to limit the amount of Zygaena flowers he sold, as to not cause their value to drop like a hammer.

 _ **=Oi, save your musings for later, weren't you here to make some skills or whatever?=**_ Haensing piped up, noticing that his partner had gone into one of those thousand-yard stares.

"Ah, yeah, right. **[Skills]**." He looked at the list of his current skills, to confirm whether or not his explosions used MP or BP. If they used mana, then wonderful, he'd be able to use that to draw out his mana properly and start crafting some skills.

 **[Skills:]**

 **Gamer's Mind |?|**  
 **Passive LV: MAX**

 **Gamer's Body |?|**  
 **Passive LV: MAX**

 **Observation |?|**  
 **Active/Passive LV: 7**  
 **EXP: 320/700**

 **ID Create |?|**  
 **Active LV: 10**  
 **EXP: 0/1000**

 **ID Escape |?|**  
 **Active LV: 9**  
 **EXP: 890/900**

 **Physical Endurance: The body's durability increases, allowing for less damage taken.**  
 **Passive Skill Effect: {10.5% decrease in damage taken from Physical attacks}**  
 **Passive Skill LV: 20**  
 **EXP: 0/2000**

 **Hammer proficiency(Adept): You are skilled at using a hammer in combat.**  
 **Passive Skill Effect: {12% Increase to attacks you perform with a hammer. 12% decrease in skill cost that use an[13] hammer}**  
 **Passive Skill LV: 6**  
 **EXP: 215/600**

 **Sense danger: A natural survival instinct. It allows the user to detect when something bad might happen. The higher the skill level, the earlier it can sense danger**  
 **Passive Skill LV: 1**  
 **EXP: 40/100**

 **Detect Bloodlust: A skill that detects any bloodlust directed at the user. It is an instinctive skill.**  
 **Passive Skill Effect: {Detects bloodlust within 30 meters from the user's location. It also alerts the user of its origin.}**  
 **Passive Skill LV: 1**  
 **EXP: 40/100**

 **Explosion Manipulation |?|**  
 **Skill Tree LV: 4**  
 **EXP: 540/800**

 **{Current Skills of this Skill Tree available}**

 **Explosive Combat |The ability to combine physical combat with explosions.|**  
 **Passive LV: 4{Explosion damage: 55}**  
 **EXP:EXP: 235/400**

 **Explosive Physiology |The users body can mimic and generate the properties of explosions|**  
 **Passive LV: 2{Explosion types available: Smoke, Regular}**  
 **EXP: 110/200**

 **Explosion Immunity |Immunity to explosions, duh.|**  
 **Passive LV: 4{Damage taken from explosions -80%}**  
 **EXP: 345/400**

 **Explosion Inducement |The user can cause an explosion of any scale, with varying effects ranging from stunning to total annihilation.|**  
 **Active LV: 4{Methods of inducement available: Touch, Energy. Area of effect: 23 feet radius from the point of inducement. MP Cost: 25}**  
 **EXP: 345/400**

 **Bomb Dash: Using Explosive Inducement, the user can propel himself further with explosions**  
 **Active Skill Effect: {+60 AGI. MP Cost: 10 per minute/explosion}**  
 **Active Skill LV: 3**  
 **EXP: 225/300**

"Okay, I can do something with this." he grinned, looking at the process his skills are going through. Activating his Inducement, he started gathering energy towards the palm of his hand, slowly but surely forming it into a spherical shape. He stopped when it reached the size of a baseball.

"Okay, now to see if this works...HIYAH!" he pointed the hand holding the energy bomb towards a boulder, trying to see if launching it was as easy as one would think. The attack leaves his hand...only to fall straight onto the ground, exploding in a giant burst of fire when it made contact with the ground.

"I ... guess it ... wasn't, blegh, that easy." Edward coughed waving his hand around to clear away the smoke. He probably should have tried throwing the bloody thing first, or made a thrusting motion with his arm to send it forward.

 _ **=Oh my, it seems you've gone off prematurely.=**_ Haensing snickered, unaffected by the smoke. Edward blinked, recognizing the tone of voice the Ignition Weapon used.

"How do you even... never mind, take 2." He shook his head, forming another sphere, this time around his fist. _'Fly you son of a bitch!'_ He punched forward, causing the shell of explosive mana to fly towards the boulder, blowing it to small pebbles.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active Skill: Bomber Shot has been created.]**

 **Bomber Shot: A skill where the user shoots a sphere of explosive mana from their hand.**  
 **Active Skill Effect: {Damage: 35 MP Cost: 20.}**  
 **Active Skill LV: 1**  
 **EXP: 0/100**

 **[Through a specific action, a Passive Skill: Manapulation has been unlocked.]**

 **Manapulation: A skill that allows the user to manipulate their mana to perform magic.**  
 **Passive Skill Effect: {Increases MP by 5%. Lessens the MP cost of skills by 5%.}**  
 **Passive Skill LV: 1**  
 **EXP: 0/100**

Looking at the skill descriptions, Edward grinned glad that his fruits of labor had born fruit. Now he would be able to craft more complex and stronger skills, perhaps something akin to explosive rope that he could burrow under the surface, coiling it around an opponent when they entered the range.

"Actually, let's do that now, **'Manapulation'**!" his mana flared up, a blue aura surrounding him. Carefully, he extended a portion of it as a thin strand, before forming another one, twisting them together, before repeating the process again and again, until he had a proper rope coming out of his hand.

 _ **=Oi, why did you make a rope? A chain would be way sturdier.=**_ Haensing asks, coiling his handle to bounce up and down to pass the time. Even if this Mana Rope was sturdy enough to stand up to sharp, it wouldn't stand a chance against a high-quality blade, especially in the hands of one of those Arie pricks who tried overcompensating with their swords.

Not that those toothpicks could compensate for anything.

"Simply put, the strings and ropes have more potential when it comes to skills." Edward answered, swinging the rope at a nearby boulder the size of a Hummer, directing it to tie itself around it. Besides, a rope didn't have the problem of getting locked down something like a low-quality Needle, while a chain would get locked onto place if somebody nailed it down through one of the links.

Tugging the rope, Edward can see that with his meagerly 21 Strength stat, the boulder wasn't going anywhere.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active Skill: Mana Rope has been created.]**

 **Mana Rope: A skill where the user creates a rope of mana that they can use in numerous ways.**  
 **Active Skill Effect: {Damage: 15. Foes with STR lower than the user's INT cannot break the rope. MP Cost: 10.}**  
 **Active Skill LV: 1**  
 **EXP: 0/100**

"And now, observe!" Edward shouted in glee as the rope around the boulder turned orange, the resulting explosion causing the debris to rain down like hail. By replacing some of the mana strands in the rope with explosive mana, the rope could quite easily be used to capture someone for black mail or simply as a surprise attack.

 _ **=Okay then, comment withdrawn.=**_ Haensing looked at the destruction in slight surprise, hoping that his partner wouldn't think of using him with that kind of rope. While yeah, he wouldn't be hurt by the explosion, but it still wouldn't be a fun experience, getting your bum set on fire.

 **[Through a specific action, the Active Skill: Wire Bomb has been created.]**

 **Wire Bomb: A skill where the user creates a rope of mana with strands of explosive mana mixed in for extra damage.**  
 **Active Skill Effect: {Damage: 25. Foes with STR lower than the user's INT cannot break the rope. MP Cost: 20.}**  
 **Active Skill LV: 1**  
 **EXP: 0/100**

"Wo~w, this should be useful." Edward grinned, before getting to work with creating the other skills he planned.

* * *

 **[Two hours later...]**

"Okay then, this should be enough for no~w." Edward yawned, looking around the Instant Dungeon, now filled with craters and gashes along the ground, boulders now sporting holes.

"Okay, so Gamer's mind doesn't stop me from yawning." he noted. " **[ID Escape]**." The ID shattered like glass, placing him back in the bathroom. Finishing up his business, he heads to bed.

* * *

 **[Fisherman Classroom, the next day...]**

"Good morning everyone!" Hax cheerily stated, her voice full of childish amusement that sounded just plain wrong coming out of a mature woman. The Regulars sat quietly, waiting for her to get to the actual lesson.

"Okay then, since you guys have all finished the contract, we'll be doing some spars, so follow me to the arena." the Ranker led her class to a gigantic hall filled with different kind of arenas, ranging from simple circles to small cubical see-through rooms with floating platforms.

 _'Huh, wasn't this the room a lot more barren the last time around?'_ Edward wondered, recognizing the room as the same one where him and Androssi had their _'spar'_.

"We'll be using this basic arena for this day." she patted the side of an arena that was rather bland in design, just a platform that was protruding from the floor, colored a fine marble white.

"Okay the, first match, Anak Zahard VS Green Pill." Hax's announcement caused the unfortunate boy to gulp, acutely aware of the gap between himself and the Princess of Zahard.

The poor Regular didn't even last 2 minutes against Anak's ruthless attacks, their fight leaving Green Pill with multiple broken bones, and thus he was deemed unable to continue the exam.

"Geez Anak, you really don't know how to hold back do you?" Edward definitely didn't envy the poor bastard as he was peeled off from the wall.

"Whatever." Anak merely shrugged, plopping down next to him. She didn't feel like amusing the weakling by playing around with him, so she just ended the fight.

"Okay, second match: Chunhwa Hong VS Edward Smith" Edward shared a look with the knight-like Regular, remembering that the boy had an Ignition Weapon. He faintly remembered it being able to release a Getsuga Tenshou-esque attack when ignited.

 _'Let's see what you got under the hood.'_ Edward quietly mumbled **[Observation]** as they walked onto the arena.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Regular\**  
 **Chunhwa Hong LV12**  
 **/Speed\**  
 **|Fisherman Student|**

 **HP: 120**  
 **MP: 80**  
 **BP: 113**

 **STR: 15**  
 **INT: 20**  
 **VIT: 18**  
 **WIS: 20**  
 **DEX: 19{+30]**  
 **AGI: 21{+30]**

 **Buffs/DeBuffs:**  
 **Expert Swordsman: {+30% EXP to sword-based skills. +30 DEX, +30 AGI, x2 Attack Speed when wielding a sword}**  
 **Medium Shinsoo Resistance LV1: the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-31% damage taken from BP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with Medium or lower amounts of Shinsoo.}**

 **EXP Yield: 1160**

 _'Well, that could be troublesome.'_ If he stuck to mere melee, that is.

"Well then, knight-boy, ready to brawl?" Edward cheekily asked, Haensing's shaft extending to a meter. But that was a mere distraction for his true attack as he charged up a Bomber Shot.

Chunhwa didn't respond, merely holding his sword in a ready stance, waiting for the Ranker to begin the fight, taking momentary glances at the ground to see if Edward was channeling his energy to use it as a bomb.

Chunhwa had seen how Edward fought against the Zahard Princess, noting how he seemed to favor surprising his opponent with explosions while they were distracted, either by him talking, or avoiding his hammer.

So, he'd just have to ignore whatever came from this cur's mouth, and focus on the battle at hand.

"Ah, so the little Scout girly not only has your balls, but your tongue as well." Since casual talking didn't get the Regular to open up, maybe some mockery would cause the boy to either get flustered, or get angry and distracted.

 _ **=You're playing a dangerous game, you know that right?=**_ Haensing asked, unconcerned by their opponent. The little knight wannabe's low-grade toothpick wasn't anything to worry about. It couldn't cut him, and its special attack would be nothing more than a snack for him, so this fight would be decided by which one had the better partner.

The only visible tell of Edward's barb affecting the knight-like Regular was the furrowing of his brows and tightening his grip on the sword.

"Ready...START!" Hax announced, pushing the button on an air horn. Edward immediately ran at Chunhwa swinging Haensing at him, but the young knight dodged the attack to Edward's left, swinging his sword at him. The sword-wielding Regular didn't care whether or not his brash opponent would lose a limb from the attack, he merely aimed not to kill him.

"Useless! **'Bomber Shot!'** " Edward taunted, letting the orb of explosive Mana to fly at Chunhwa, who barely managed to block with his sword, the blast causing him to back down a few steps. **[-5 HP]** While he was aware that Edward was capable of creating explosions, he didn't expect him to be able to launch them remotely.

Edward didn't let up on the assault, keeping Chunhwa at bay as he kept blasting him with Bomber Shots. He'd eventually either get hit, or try and Ignite Narumada, which wouldn't do anything against Haensing. In short, he couldn't lose this fight, as long as he could keep peppering the little knight.

"Hoy, Eddy-boy, while your skill with Shinsoo is commendable, this isn't the Wave Controller class, so stop bullying Chunhwy from a range, or I'll have to start deducting Points." Hax commented from the sidelines, both Edward and Chunhwa blanching at the nicknames the instructor came up with.

Now, Hax wasn't naive enough to think that the world worked on an honor system, with melee fighters fighting only other close-range specialists, or long-range fighter battling among themselves, but since this was the first combat class, she might as well try to make the fights fair.

 **[New Quest "Fisherman sparring" has been created!]**  
 **Due to your instructor wanting to make the fights fair, at least among the non-princesses, you have to defeat Chunhwa Hong justly, in melee combat.**

 **Rewards:  
** **-500 EXP  
** **\- 40 Test Points/Money**

 **Winning Conditions:  
** **-Defeat Chunhwa Hong, either by knockout or ring-out  
** **-Use only close-range and mid-range skills**

 **Losing Conditions:  
** **-HP dropping to 0  
** **-Using projectile Skills  
** **-Leaving the Ring**

 _'Melee combat it is then. Damn childish bitch.'_ Edward grimaced, channeling Mana over his body to form armour around himself, ignoring the prompt for creating a Skill called **[Mana Cloak]**. Using **[Bomb Dash]** to close the distance between himself and Chunhwa, surprising the Regular.

"Tally-HO!" Edward swung Haensing at Chunhwa, enlarging the hammer head to the size of an office chair.

 _'WOAH!'_ But Chunhwa's trained reflexes allowed the boy to jump back and avoid Edward's swing. While he had expected this kind of speed, the abrupt acceleration had caught him nearly off guard. He knew that he couldn't block his Ignition weapon, nor the resulting explosion.

"Extend" But Chunhwa had failed to account for Haesing's other feature, as the hammer rapidly extended, hitting him in the gut [-80 HP] while he was in the air, the impact sending him flying out of the ring.

 **[Quest Completed!]**

 **Rewards:**  
 **\- 500 EXP{X2]**  
 **\- 40 Test Points/Money**

"Well, that ended rather unceremoniously." Hax couldn't help but note with a rather nonchalant tone. _'Note to self: next time, get a bigger arena.'_ she couldn't properly grade her students if they kept pushing each other off the platform. Maybe she could use a cage...

The Regulars around Hax carefully and slowly inched away from the Ranker as she started giggling, her mind having wandered to the _mature_ section of her brain.

"Hey, no hard feelings about the fight, right?" Edward asked as he offered a hand to Chunhwa. The wannabe knight would be quite useful as an ally, so what better moment to spark up a companionship.

"No hard feelings, just a few sore spots." Chunhwa answered lightheartedly, accepting the offered hand.

"Ah, sorry about that mate, but hey, at least you're still in shape to continue the exam." Edward pointed out as the two walked away from the arena. He needed Chunhwa to make it at least to the Hide and Seek test, beyond that, he wouldn't be necessary.

"Eddy's right y'know. Even a single nasty boo-boo could mean not passing this Floor." Hax agreed, standing in front of the two.

"See, you need a certain amount of points to pass the Position test, and you can't get points if you don't attend your lessons." she explained, making sure that everyone heard and understood, as she wasn't going to repeat herself.

 _'Heh, sucks to be them.'_ Edward thought to himself as he watched the Regulars' faces twist to worry and fear, no doubt afraid of injuring themselves to the point of being unable to continue the test. That would make fighting them much easier, as they would be afraid of taking chances. Honestly, he didn't need to worry about injuries, as long as his HP didn't hit 0, all he'd need to do is sleep it off.

Too bad he wasn't a Saiyan, 'cause that combined with his **[Gamer's Body]** would be _so_ OP.

* * *

 **[After the class...]**

 _'Now let's test this out.'_ Edward thought to himself as he approached the library's door, noticing that Hoh was walking away from the hall. While he had tested out his Empty ID in his own room, he wanted to make sure that only he was dragged into the Illusion Barrier, and no-one else.

" **[ID Create: Empty]** " he softly whispered, grinning as Hoh disappeared from the view. With a wicked grin, he opened the library's door, noticing it devoid of life, even the library's caretaker was nowhere to be seen, and he didn't hear anything that indicated somebody else being there.

 **[For figuring out a method to avoid being spotted while you absorb Skill Books, you gain 4{X2] points in INT and WIS]**

"Oh, this too perfect!" Edward cackled as he walked over to one of the bookcases he knew had a skill book. With his Empty ID, he wouldn't have to worry about getting caught absorbing a book, unless the book also disappeared outside his Illusion Barrier.

"Let's see..." he trailed his finger over the spines of the books, until he found the one he was looking for, a book detailing sewing and other methods of making clothing. A Skill Book that would no doubt be useful when he managed to obtain some crafting materials from ID monsters.

 **[Skill Book: The art of making clothes]**  
 **This book will help you in becoming at least competent in making clothing from basic materials, and doing minor fixes.**  
 **Stat Requirements: 20+ INT, 10+ WIS, 15+ DEX**

 **[You are unable to learn this Skill]**

Edward quickly added 3 of his Stat points to Dexterity and proceeded to watch as the book was enveloped in circuits, the book breaking apart into fragments that flowed into his head.

 **[New Skill: Crafting(Clothing) has been learned]**  
 **Passive Skill Effect: Obtain the Skill Books** **[Jewellery]** **and [Metalwork] to fully unlock [Crafting].**

 **Passive Skill LV: 1**  
 **EXP: Complete [Crafting] in order to level up this Skill**

"Well, I guess it makes sense." Edward sighed in disappointment, starting his search for the other parts of the Skill. And with **[Bomb Dash]** , it didn't take long before he found the other two books, **[Jewellery]** requiring 25 in Intelligence and in 15 in both Wisdom and Dexterity, while **[Metalwork]** required 20 in Strength, 15 in Intelligence, Vitality and Dexterity.

 **[The "Crafting" Skill has been fully unlocked!]**  
 **Passive Effect: +2% chance of success when crafting an item.**  
 **Passive Skill LV: 1**  
 **EXP: 0/100**

"Okay, not exactly what I was expecting." Edward had honestly expected for the skill to have different levels for each branch of crafting, or for the skill to require 300 EXP to level up, but he wasn't going to argue, not when he had more important skills to acquire.

But, he shouldn't get too greedy before making sure that the books didn't disappear outside the ID, since if too many books disappeared, even if they were such low-grade books, there would be more of a tightened security around the library, and that could lead to each Regular being monitored.

So, with that in mind, Edward quickly made his way out of the library, and entered the boy's bathroom. Oh sure, he could go to his room before dispelling the ID, but nobody seeing him enter the room would be way too suspicious.

" **[ID Escape]** " he clenched his fist, the Illusion Barrier shattering, revealing that he wasn't alone in the bathroom.

"WOAH, WHAT THE FUCK!" Ship screamed with a shocked and frightened expression on his face, while Hatsu had a relatively calmer expression, but still more shocked than what Edward had ever seen of the swordsman in the story.

 _'Maybe I should've just went straight to my room.'_

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks! I hope you liked the chapter. I'm sorry it took this long to make, but RL kept getting in the way** (Fun little trivia about me: According to a Psychology test our class had to take in Psychology, I have a ISTJ-type personality) **, and I was kinda bummed out that only 3 of you guys reviewed United we Stand, since I was really hoping for at the very least 10 reviews, but I guess I should've published it before RWBY Volume 4 came out, but I wanted to publish it right when Volume 4 started.**

 **It's really frustrating when over 300 people look at the story, and only less than 10 leave a review, it really makes me depressed about writing when most of the readers weren't invested enough to leave even a simple "Nice job, I hope to see more". But, I guess people were busy fangasming over Volume 4, so I can't really blame them.**

* * *

 **Current Stats for Edward.**

 **/Irregular\**  
 **Edward Smith LV: 19**  
 **/Power\**  
 **Exp: 1350/1900**

 **HP: 450**  
 **Mana/MP: 140**  
 **BP: 167**

 **STR: 29{+210}**  
 **INT: 37**  
 **VIT: 24{+160}**  
 **WIS: 38**  
 **DEX: 23**  
 **AGI: 16{+30}**

 **Points: 39**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:**  
 **High Shinsoo Resistance LV1: the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-62.3% damage taken from BP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with High or lower amounts of Shinsoo.}**

* * *

 **And here's my current roster of active stories:**

Tower of Gamer **{Evident by this chapter]**  
Enduring Soul **{I'll be updating this one next, I just have bit of a problem with the Spirit Ring Skill and Beasts]**  
United we Stand: Open the Game! **{And this one will be updated after that]**

 **Now, some of you might be understandably angry at me for not including my Akame ga Kill/DDS fanfic on here, but I have decided to wait until the manga is finished so that I'll be able to plan it all out in more detail.**

 **And as for why D.D.D: Rising Goetia isn't on the roster, well let's just say that I need to wait for certain things to happen before I'll continue it, but please be patient.**

 **Guest reviews answered:**

 **Guest(5th of August, 2016):** Thanks, I hope you'll like the future ones as well. Also, any interactions you'd specifically like to see?

 **Mr Koon(25th of July):** Thanks for the compliments, I pride myself in the ability to implement the Gamer stuff, but I guess that's good since I'm studying at Animation and Game-Developing.

 **Moonflower(17th of July):** Well, your wishes have been answered, and you got two left, so use them wisely ;)

 **TheOne(14th of July):** Glad to see that you're liking T.O.G-Edward's character.

* * *

 **And here's the Question of the chapter, well, it's not really a Question, more of a Request:**

I'm having a bit of trouble designing Spirit Beasts for Enduring Soul, Spirit Beasts that Shen would be facing, so I'm asking you, my dear viewers to try and come up with at least **1** Spirit Beast for Shen to hunt and acquire a Spirit Ring Skill from.

Now, I'm not expecting much, considering the nature of my request, but I will say that I will be updating Enduring Soul regardless of whether or not you guys make up a Spirit Beast. All I ask is that you guys try and make it fit with the theme of death, so I don't know, maybe some reptiles, hyenas or mosquitoes would probably be a good place to start from.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: I'm so so so so SO sorry for taking so long with this! I've been busy with all kinds of schoolstuff, not to mention I've been binging on Youjo Senki (Tanya-chan is** _ **SO**_ **cute!), Code Geass, the whole Akito the Exiled movie series (Ayano's rivaling Kallen for best Waifu, and whoo boy, now I got a need for choking the life out of Suzaku, that hypocritical** _ **CUNT!**_ **) might do a little fic, which I hope to be an interesting one for you guys, but I'll wait.**

 **Also, Lliono, my former Beta Reader is going to through a rough patch, so he's unable to continue being my Beta Reader, so good news, there's a spot open.**

 **Now onto the story!**

"Regular speech"

"This is a **'skill'** understand?"

 _'Thought'_

 _#Machine speaking/Lighthouse#_

 _ **=Ignition Weapon communicating=**_

 _ **"a Guardian speaking"**_

 **[Game Data]**

 **(Author Note)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Gamer by Sung San-Young and Sang-ah, Boku no Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi or Tower of God by SIU. What I do own are my OC's Edward Smith and Bolt, Hachi was designed by Lliono, my former beta reader. Please support the Official Releases**

* * *

' _Well, shit.'_ Edward thought as he analyzed his current situation. While he did plan to reveal his Gamer ability to the important players of the canon story, he had planned to do so when the Submerged Fish test would be announced.

And it wasn't like he could blow Ship and Hatsu to smithereens, ala Killer Queen, he needed them both alive. If it were some Regulars who were fated to fail the test anyway, then he wouldn't have even hesitated to blow them up for extra EXP and loot.

However, he could make this situation work, he'd just have to be careful with what he revealed to these two.

"Well, this is a bit inconvenient." Edward sighed, a sheepish expression on his face, scratching the back of his head while keeping an all-around relaxed stance, showing that he wasn't going to attack.

"W-What the heck was that?" Ship asked in shock, while Hatsu looked at Edward with a wary expression, his hand slowly moving towards one of his katanas.

"Well, it's a bit hard, not to mention crazy to explain. _But_ , I guess I could explain it." Edward said as he leaned against the bathroom wall to distract the two from him channeling mana from his feet towards them, ready to retaliate with Mana Ropes if either one of the two tried to attack or run and alert others.

However, he was pleased to see the two relax slightly, but Hatsu still kept his hand near his katanas.

"However, to explain what you saw, I do have to explain something that absolutely _needs_ to be kept under wraps." Edward said as stared at both of them with hardened, cold eyes. Timeline be damned, he wasn't going to risk the F.U.G or anyone he didn't trust learning about The Gamer, so if either one of them couldn't keep their mouth shut, he wouldn't hesitate to go "Killer Queen" on their asses and blow them to kingdom come.

"Y-Yeah, sure." Ship gave a shaky thumbs-up while Hatsu nodded solemnly.

"No, I don't you understand. The ability that I'm going to explain to you, it can render all hard work meaningless. It can reduce the amount of time one would need to learn something that would take months to a matter of seconds and physical capabilities." Edward's words gave Hatsu and Ship pause, as the two took in Edward's words.

"So you're from a Great Family?" Hatsu questioned, finally speaking. Edward being from one of the Great Families would explain how he had an Ignition Weapon, and how he could create those explosions even before the Shinsoo lessons.

"Nope, one of a kind, as far as I'm aware of." Edward answered.

"Wait, you said that your ability can render all hard work _ONE_ would need, as in _any-ONE_ , not just you?" Ship inquired as he noticed the hint that Edward dropped.

Edward allowed a small smile to form on his face as he nodded. "Correct, my ability is one that can be shared to others, so, I think, and hope that you guys can understand why I'm not exactly keen on info about this ability spreading like the common cold."

"So, what exactly is this ability?" Hatsu asked as his hand moved away from his katanas. If he had intended to attack them, then he would have done so already.

"Well, it's a bit tough to explain, but to put it simply, my ability allows me, and anyone I invite, to live like a video game character, and as long as your physical and mental prowess is high enough, you can absorb _any_ ability that is written down. Clearing trials that you face, like defeating strong enemies, will award you experience that will boost your Shinsoo and health." Edward explained with a smile on his face. Now to see how they reacted.

Hatsu and Ship blinked in surprise as their faces twisted to a look of disbelief. "Seriously?" Ship asked, doubtful of Edward's words. While he had seen some things beyond his imagination ever since he arrived onto the second floor, and heard some interesting tales from his teacher, he had never heard of an ability like that.

"I'm not joking, just watch, **[Party Creation, Invite: Ship, Hatsu]**." Edward smiled in satisfaction as the two young Regulars jumped in surprise when two screens appeared in front of them.

* * *

 **[Outer Tower: Zahard's 5th Floating Castle...]**

"Mmm… Sugoii…" Jaina mumbled in her sleep as she laid her face down against a pillow, her dark room illuminated by the multiple screens of her Opera.

* * *

"Okay, so you weren't joking." Ship admitted, as Hatsu pinched himself to check what he saw was real.

"Nope. So, what do you guys say, will you accept the invite? You are free to walk away from this, as long as you keep quiet about it." Edward said. To be perfectly honest, a part of him was hoping that they both declined his offer, in case that they could see both his and Baam's status' as Irrergulars.

"I thank you for the offer, but I have to refuse." Hatsu said as he gave a respectful bow.

Edward raised his eyebrow at Hatsu's question. He figured that he would accept his offer, but then again, it was good that he didn't.

' _Must be something about honor or some crap like that. He definitely seems the type.'_ Edward thought. Honor or pride didn't matter in the kind of fights that were in their future, idiocy like that would only get you and your comrades killed. But on the other hand, if the opponent assumed that the fight was going to be one fit for knights of yore, then that simply meant that the idiot wouldn't see a pragmatic strike before it was too late.

"What, you're serious? If this works like he says, then clearing this test will be way easier." Ship however, was more vocal with his opinion.

"While that may be true, I want to clear this test through my own efforts, without relying on a power that makes everything a mere game." Hatsu explained himself. His honor wouldn't allow himself to advance through this test by constantly boosting himself with the power of somebody else.

"Well, that's okay, just remember to keep quiet about it." Edward said, not offended by Hatsu's description of his ability in the least. And why should he, it was a pretty spot-on one. His ability _did_ make most things a game, but so what? He was getting stronger due to it, and it didn't have any negative side-effects.

Hatsu nodded in confirmation.

"So then, what'll be your answer Ship? Will you accept my offer?" Edward asked, interested in whether or not Ship would follow in his friend's example, or would he accept the power that was offered to him. If he did, he might have to take him aside to make sure that if or when he saw Baam's status as an Irregular he wouldn't blow the whistle on him, metaphorically speaking. He might actually make a little white lie, perhaps something along the lines of _"If you attempt to tell anyone about Baam being an Irregular, your brain will be blown to bits before you can do or say anything."_ although, that would kill any possibility of Ship agreeing to work with him in the future.

Ship looked at the screen in front of him, in the middle of an internal debate. On one hand, if what Edward told him about this ability was true, then not only would his chances of passing the Position Test shoot up drastically, but his fighting skills would also get better. But on the other hand, Hatsu was kind of right. If he did accept Edward's offer, then could he even feel proud of passing the test if he did so by relying on this ability? Could he even face his Master or Wave proudly if he relied on a power that was simply handed to him? Granted, from how Edward described it, this "Gamer" didn't outright boost his overall power, it just boosted the rate that his power grew at.

"Hey Edward, can I take some time to make my decision?" Ship asked as he looked at Edward.

Edward allowed a small smile on his face. "Sure, take your time. Come knock on my door when you have your answer." He said as he moved past Ship and Hatsu and reached for the door's handle, but stopped short.

"Oh, and one more thing." He said, turning towards the two. "I really admire both of your guts, not many people would reject a quick-easy way to power, really, I do." Edward smiled as he clapped his hands.

"But…there's a point where mere guts just doesn't cut it anymore." He said with a somber tone as he stopped clapping. "And, when that _does_ happen, and believe me, it will, you're left lying on the floor, with your guts hanging out, so do think this over properly." He said, before exiting, not bothering to wait for Ship's and Hatsu's reaction to his words.

* * *

 _ **=Well, you sure fucked up there, revealing your ability like that.=**_ Haensing snarked as Edward walked down the halls.

"I know, but what the fuck you suppose I should have done? I couldn't kill them, and if I just ignored them, then they would have gone to the Rankers." Edward growled as he headed towards the gym. He had some steam to let off, and he might as well gain some stats while he vented his frustration. How could he have been _so_ stupid, just re-appearing in the middle of the fucking room like that, like a fucking _DOLT_! Now he had to reveal his ability to Ship and Hatsu, which on the bright side weren't the _worst_ people to reveal it to, but definitely not the best either. He just hoped that wouldn't wouldn't let his secret slip accidentally.

' _Note to self: from now on, only deploy and de-activate Illusion Barriers while inside my own room.'_ Edward thought as he massaged his temples in an attempt to stave off the headache of trying to do further damage control if his secret got out.

The absolute last thing he needed was non-important Regulars coming to him begging him to share his ability with them, since that would draw the attention of the Rankers, and more importantly, Yu Han Sung and the F.U.G. God knows that an ability like The Gamer would be a damn enticing bait for the F.U.G to attempt to obtain, so they'd either try to kidnap him, or the more likely one, kill him off so that it couldn't be used against them.

So yeah, the smaller the amount of people who knew about The Gamer, the better. And it wasn't like he could blow up any of the useless Regulars, since that would besmirch the little nice-ish guy charade he had been building for himself, not to mention the attention it could draw from the bigger fishes.

 _ **=Well, you could have lied and said that you were testing out a cloaking skill, pretty sure that they would have bought that.=**_ Haensing suggested, knowing that there were different methods of turning invisible in the Tower.

'… _I'm a fucking idiot!'_ Edward internally raged, Gibbs-slapping himself for missing something so simple. Sure, it probably would have drawn some questions, but ones _infinitely_ easier and less risky to answer than revealing The Gamer to them this early. Of course he had planned to reveal his ability, but that would have been when the Submerged Fish test would've been issued, since by then, most of the unimportant Regulars would have been weeded out.

' _But, what's done is done, no use crying over spilt milk and all that.'_ He begrudgingly thought, trying to calm down as he continued his walk towards the gym. He couldn't afford to lose his temper, not yet at least. Wouldn't want to accidentally break some equipment or someone in his rage. He didn't know if the damn coffee machine trap would car all that much, but some of the others, like Lero-Ro might get on his case if he _accidentally_ blew up one of the Regulars.

He didn't want to get kicked out into the uncertainty that lied outside the Inner Tower, and moved away from the group that would graduate from this batch of Regulars, the group whose future he more or less knew for certain.

* * *

 **[Later…]**

 _#Alright Regulars, time to head to your dorms! Can't focus on the lessons if you stay awake the whole night!#_ A cheerful voice shouted from the intercom.

Edward didn't say anything as he exited the gym, rather pleased with the fruits of his labor. In the four hours he had spent in the gym, he had gained 15 points in STR by weight-lifting, followed by 32 in AGI, and from doing that non-stop, he had gained a nice 36 point boost to VIT, and those were with the modifiers granted by the "Best Seed" title and the Gym, the latter of which had changed its modifier from a 100% stat increase to a 50% one to his slight disappointment. Sure, overworking his body like that had earned him some damage, 220 to be exact, but no pain, no gain right?

 _ **=You're not going to sleep, are you?=**_ Haensing asked, a knowing look on his face as he peaked his head out of Edward's pocket. Turns out, unless Haensing was in his grasps, his buffs didn't apply, which had been a most welcome piece of information to the Ignition Weapon.

"Of course not." Edward answered, a smirk on his lips. Now that he had grinded up his Stats, he'd spend the night grinding up his level in the Zombie ID. He'd just have to be careful not to trigger a Legion Zombie rearing its ugly mug. He wasn't so arrogant to think that his chances were anything but a snowball's in the burning pits of hell. Oh sure, he might be higher leveled than the common Regular, but that didn't mean jack shit in the big picture.

As he was right now, he was just a big, explosive fish in a small pond. And hell, he wasn't even the biggest fish around, no, he was maybe the 12th biggest, and that was the optimal estimation. He knew that the moment he tried any fancy shit, he'd get his shit smacked by either the Rankers, Hwa Ryun, Androssi or Anak. While he might have seen the Levels of Hwa Ryun and the princesses of Zahard, their stats and levels seemed _way_ off when he compared them to others, so maybe it was something like hiding your power level?

…Knowing Murphy's Law, it was probably that, and the slight update that came with unlocking Shinsoo also changing the levels to more accurate ones, considering how the Gym's buff was also nerfed.

'Well, no use complaining, just gotta grind my levels higher and higher.' He thought as he opened to door to his room. However, he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Hwa Ryun sitting at the end of his bed, her sole visible eye looking at him with no discernable emotion to be seen.

 **[Observation]**

 **/Mysterious Guide\  
Hwa Ryun LV: ?  
|Guide|**

 **HP: ?  
MP: ?**

 **[Your level is too low to obtain further information]**

"…" Edward merely blinked as he slowly closed the door.

' _WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!'_ he internally screamed, biting his left pointer finger. Why was Hwa Ryun in his room? She obviously wasn't there for a quickie, he wasn't arrogant enough to think that out of all the different guys in the Tower, she'd go for him, so that wasn't it.

Did the books he absorbed in his Illusion Barrier also disappear in the library, and the Coffee Machine sent her to investigate? No, that couldn't be it, as they shouldn't have anything that can link him to it. Did they notice him disappearing for a while? Shit, that was probably it.

Fucking hell, now he'd have to try and lie his ass off to avoid revealing The Gamer. Ship and Hatsu were relatively harmless to reveal it to, but not Hwa Ryun, she was the furthest thing from harmless. Her loyalty was anything but certain, but for now at least, she worked for the Coffee Machine and Rachel, the two people he didn't want to reveal The Gamer to and allow to live.

' _Shitshitshit! Okay, calm down Eddie, think of a game plan to avoid revealing shit to F.U.G.'_ He thought, his nervousness put on the backburner as The Gamer's Mind kicked in, and started to count the options he had. He could just walk in and listen to what she had to say… or, he could just ask her to leave, and yes, he meant _ask_ since she was probably holding back during the exam, and there was no way he could actually throw her out.

Ah, who the hell was he kidding, he'd just have to walk in, answer her questions while trying to keep any important stuff, especially the Gamer hidden, and hope that she left after getting her answers.

And so, with a heavy sigh, he re-opened the door and walked right in, shutting it after him. "Alright, talk. What do you want to ask?" He looked at Hwa Ryun, who merely gave an amused smile in return.

"Whatever do you mean? I'm here just to see what the bed is like in another room." She laid her back onto the bed, feeling the texture, knowing full well what Edward meant. But taking some joy in seeing how he'd react. Which was actually part of the reason she decided to visit, as the parts where he appeared on The Path were getting blurrier and blurrier, sometimes showing one outcome and sometimes another.

"Cut the bullshit act, what the fuck does the F.U.G want with me?" Edward asked, smoke escaping from his clenched fists as he started losing control of his temper, but still held himself back. If they came to blows, not only would he lose, but he'd also get kicked out from the tests. And he couldn't afford to let that happen. To be thrown out into that world full of uncertainty.

"What makes you think the F.U.G wants anything from you?" Hwa Ryun asked, looking up at the ceiling. The fact that he assumed that the F.U.G wanted something from him implied that he had something worth value to them. Whether it was his Ignition Weapon or something else didn't really matter to her, not now at least.

"You work _for_ the F.U.G. Thus, if you're here, then it means your superiors have something they can't approach me directly about." Hwa Ryun scoffed at Edward's statement. She, working _for_ the F.U.G, and them being her superiors? Please, they were just a temporary ally, one that they couldn't afford to throw away. Guides of her skill weren't exactly something you simply find off the streets.

"What makes you so sure that this isn't something personal?" She asked, sitting up to look at him.

"…Okay, sure, let's say that I believe you, what do _you_ have to ask of me?" Edward asked, leaning against the wall while charging up mana, ready to defend himself if it turned out that she had deemed him a danger to the future she saw. Even if he would get kicked out, he wasn't planning on dying here, at least not before passing his power onto Baam. Considering the shitstorm the kid was headed towards, he sure needed all the extra power he could get.

"It's simple really." she rose up, wiping away any dust, not that there would be any, considering how the dormitories got cleaned of any impurities when each Regular was out during class or a test.

"I want you to ignore Rachel, and let her continue on her path. You do that, and I'll forget to mention to my _"superiors"_ that you know some of the important and incriminating things about their organization." She said. All of the paths that she could see involving Edward still showed him eliminating Rachel accompanied by comments mentioning information that he could only know of if you could see into the future, and she couldn't let Rachel be killed, not yet anyways.

"So, you took a little peek into the future, didn't ya? And you're willing to let the original future unfold? I can see why your race are called witches." Edward scoffed, scratching his head as he looked downwards to hide his scowl. If she could see far enough into his future, especially to a point of time where he revealed his true nature, then he was in bigger danger than he initially thought.

"It's not that bad to be honest, all you need to do is let things go the way they should go." Hwa Ryun shrugged her shoulders at his insult. She had heard worse and more inventive insults, so Edward's little barb meant nothing.

"And let that _monster_ be released?! Do you even realize the amount of destruction that monste-"

"Which will be taken care of. All we need to do, is to make sure that Baam has the motivation to keep climbing, and the skills to survive the challenges ahead." Hwa Ryun cut in, a frown making its way to her lips. She knew full well what kind of destruction and death White would cause if he were to escape the Hell Train, and she also knew that him and Baam would eventually face off against one another. Not to mention the other opponents Baam would have to face in his journey.

"Look, it's obvious that you have plans for the boy, as do other people, but you _know_ what happens if he doesn't reach his full potential." Her voice turned sharper as she stormed over to him.

"So, I am merely asking that we work together to make sure that he becomes strong enough to survive what's to come. And frankly, the F.U.G is the best option he has available. So, do we have a deal?" she asked, looking straight at his eyes, a strong fire burning beneath those near-emotionless eyes.

"Ugh, fine" Edward groaned as he looked at Hwa Ryun, the corners of her lips twisted upwards in smile of victory. He knew that he was without any real allies here, so his only chance of making any real changes hinged on whether or not he would pass this Floor, and considering that the director of the test was a part of F.U.G, he had to dance along their tune, for now…

"But, if making sure that Baam is capable of taking on the shit that'll be coming his way is your goal, then I only have one suggestion for you; Let him make friends, don't treat him like some symbol that can't be allowed to make friends." Edward said. If he couldn't prevent Baam's unfriendly training trip, then he might as well try to make it less rough. Hwa Ryun crossed her arms and simply raised her brow in question.

"I've seen a similar situation many times, you give a naive, lonely kid a goal and precious people to fight for, and they'll fight tooth and nail to make sure that those friends are safe." He explained his point. "Rachel won't keep Baam motivated forever, and by targeting those friends he makes will be the perfect motivator for the little chestnut to keep fighting and climbing. And if need be, they also serve as good hostages to keep him in line." He added.

"And if any of those friends happen to die in his arms? Well, he'll make sure that whomever responsible for taking away his friends will pay, and it'll be even better if that friend delivers few last, raspy and tired words telling him to keep fighting as they die in his arms." He continued, a grin making its way to his face as his mind went back to the anime he watched before he died, specifically to the scenes where the protagonists friend or love interest died. just an arm's reach away from them. The expressions on the faces of those heroes were _exhilarating_.

"You seem oddly giddy about seeing Baam going through emotional strife." Hwa Ryun commented as she listened to Edward's explanation. It was actually rather similar to what F.U.G was planning to do, allowing Baam to make friends during the Position test, only to use the threat of them being killed as the leash to keep him working for them.

"Oh, no no no, I just happened to…reminisce about a few stories with similar tragedies while I talked." Edward said, smiling awkwardly. Now wasn't the time to reminisce about those days of joy. He wasn't back home, where he hardly had to worry about things. He was in a world where only those who were either born under lucky stars, or trained in hell would survive. He couldn't afford to drop his guard.

"I see. I look forward to working with you." Hwa Ryun nodded, exiting the room.

After a while had passed, Edward sighed heavily, gripping his head in frustration as he sat on the end of his bed. _'It's not that bad. Just need to let canon take its course, and then, I'm free to help Baam and Koon.'_ He thought, trying to justify agreeing to let that _**cunt**_ stab Baam in the back, and letting her get away with it.

He didn't care if her only role was to be bait to reel Baam higher and higher up the Tower, he wanted to see her _suffer_ , horribly. But, if he did that, then he'd either be killed by F.U.G before he even succeeded, or be forced to take her place.

"Fucking dammit…" he grumbled, plopping down onto the bed. No use crying over spilt milk, the only thing he _could_ do now was buff the rest of the Golden Team up, and more importantly, grind until he could grind no more. And would you look at that, he had plenty of frustration to misplace.

" **[ID Create: Zombie]**." He growled, the world around him shattering.

* * *

 **AN: That's all folks! And once again, sorry about taking so long to publish a new chapter, but RL has been a** _ **bitch**_ **, not to mention that I've been drawing up drafts for some of the stories that I'll posting into a Miscellaneous box, and I've entered a JoJo RP forum.**

 **Also, on an unrelated note, any mythology buffs among you guys? I'm in the need of one.**

 **Anyway, about future updates, from now on, I'll be updating the stories in the order of the amount of people following, favoriting and reviewing them, so next up is Quincy DxD. Also, I'm now on RWBY Amino, so if you guys have anything to ask, or just want to chat, but you don't have a account, head there, I'll be going with the same username that I use here.**

 **So, some of you might have noticed that Edward has had a pretty easy time, and so have I. So, do expect things starting to go pear-shaped for him, starting with practically being threatened to not interfere with what's going on in the Test.**

* * *

 **Current Stats for Edward.**

 **/Irregular\**  
 **Edward Smith LV: 19**  
 **/Power\**  
 **Exp: 1350/1900**

 **HP: 310{+220}**  
 **Mana/MP: 140**  
 **BP: 250**

 **STR: 44{+210}**  
 **INT: 37**  
 **VIT: 60{+160}**  
 **WIS: 38**  
 **DEX: 23**  
 **AGI: 48{+30}**

 **Points: 39**

 **Perks/Buffs/Debuffs:**  
 **High Shinsoo Resistance LV1: the ability to resist Shinsoo.{-62.3% damage taken from BP attacks. Ignore AGI Debuffs in areas with High or lower amounts of Shinsoo.}**

* * *

 **[Unanswered Reviews from last time:]**

 **Quest (January 1, 2017:** Well, if you're unhappy with the work, how about _you_ start writing? Let's see how well you do.

 **Geez (November 30, 2016:** Well, what would you suggest? I mean, I _do_ have something…relatively unique planned, but it never hurts to have some outside suggestions.

 **Kyros (November 5, 2016:** I'm glad you enjoyed it.

 **fgt (November 3, 2016:** Ah, I'm sad to hear that, I hope this alleviated your balls?

 **Overlord Susanoo(October 30, 2016:** We~ll let's just say that the Director will be…interested if or when he finds out.

* * *

 **And here's the Question of the chapter:**

What Arcana from Persona do you think fit the Naruto series characters the most? I'm asking this because I have a little project planned for the Miscellaneous box.


End file.
